Two Body System

Suppose two carts, one twice as massive as the other,

fly apart when the compressed spring that joins them
is released. How fast does the heavier cart roll
compared to the lighter cart?

According to Newton's Third Law, the forces on these

two masses must be equal (and in opposite directions). According to Newton's Second Law, F = m a, we
find a = F / m. That means the acceleration of the twice-as-massive cart will be one-half the acceleration
of the other.

Springs--Two Springs and a Mass

Consider a mass m with a spring on either end, each attached to a wall. Let and be the spring

constants of the springs. A displacement of the mass by a distance x results in the first spring lengthening by a

distance x (and pulling in the direction), while the second spring is compressed by a distance x (and pushes

in the same direction). The equation of motion then becomes

(1)

(2)

so the effective spring constant of the system is , and the angular oscillation frequency is
To help illustrate this concept consider the following analogy, where a spring is attached
to a block, and another block collides with it. Both blocks are moving on a flat
frictionless surface and no external forces are acting on the blocks in the direction of
motion. The spring is a mathematical representation of the "springiness" of the particles
as they collide.

There are three distinct stages:

Stage (1), before the collision: Both blocks

are moving on a frictionless surface at an
initial velocity.

In this stage, the total energy in the system

is given by

The energy of the blocks is equal to their kinetic energy. The energy of the spring is zero
since it is at its equilibrium (unstretched) length.

Therefore,

Stage (2), at the midpoint of the collision: The

spring has compressed by the maximum
amount and as a result is storing its maximum
energy. Both blocks are moving at the same
velocity v at this instant.
In this stage, the total energy in the system is given by

The energy of the blocks is equal to their kinetic energy. The energy of the spring is
equal to its stored energy due to it being compressed.

Therefore,

where k is the spring constant and s is the amount the spring is compressed.

Since the spring is assumed to be elastic, energy is conserved at this stage. Therefore, by
the law of conservation of energy

Stage (3), after the collision: The spring has

released and both blocks are moving at a
different velocity.

In this stage, the total energy in the system is

given by

The energy of the blocks is equal to their kinetic energy. The energy of the spring is zero
since it is once again at its equilibrium (unstretched) length.

Therefore,

Since the spring is assumed to be elastic it has returned 100% of its energy to the system
(stored during stage 2). Therefore, by the law of conservation of energy

As a result,

Stage 1 and stage 3 represent the initial and final states of the system, and from the
above equation we can write

Therefore, for an elastic collision kinetic energy is conserved.

A Two-Body Collision with a Spring A block of mass m1 = 2.4 kg initially
moving to the right with...
Show transcribed image text

Expert Answer

Initial E = KE = ½mv² = ½ * 2.4kg * (2.8m/s)² = 9.408 J max spring compression where

EN4:
Division of Engineering
Brown University