Question

A mass of $0.5kg$ moving with a speed of $1.5m/s$ on a horizontal smooth surface, collides with a nearly weightless spring of force constant $k=50Nm$. The maximum compression of the spring would be:

• A. $0.12m$
• B. $1.5m$
• C. $0.5m$
• D. $0.15m$

Answer 1

The correct option is D $0.15m$

Consider the object of mass $0.5kg$ is moving on the horizontal surface. the objective is to find the maximum compression of the spring.

The kinetic energy of mass is converted into the potential energy of the spring,

This implies that,

$x=\sqrt{\frac{m{v}^2}{k}}=\sqrt{\frac{0.5\times {\left(1.5\right)}^2}{50}}=0.15m$

Hence, the correct option is $b$