Asked by Ashley

Block 1, with mass m1 and speed 4.5 m/s, slides along an x axis on a frictionless floor and then undergoes a one-dimensional elastic collision with stationary block 2, with mass m2 = 0.41m1. The two blocks then slide into a region where the coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.45; there they stop. How far into that region do (a) block 1 and (b) block 2 slide?


If you could help with this I would be soo happy! Everything I get turns out wrong, and i'm running out of ideas.
Answered by drwls
You seem to have omitted the mass m1. It cannot be solved without that information.
Answered by Ashley
That's all the information that I'm given.
Answered by Ashley
The masses usually cancel out of equations, so I'm just guessing that that's what happens here. I just don't know how to start it.
Answered by Joseph Smith
You solve for the final velocities of the blocks with two equations in two unknowns: conservation of momentum and conservation of energy. The unknown m1 will cancel out of the solutions. Calculating the distance they travel against friction will likewise cancel out m1.
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