What is Conserved ?#

Part 1#

On a smooth horizontal floor, an object slides into a spring which is attached to another mass that is initially stationary. When the spring is most compressed, both objects are moving at the same speed. Ignoring friction, what is conserved during this interaction?

Answer Section#

  • Momentum only

  • Kinetic energy only

  • Momentum and mechanical energy

  • Momentum and kinetic energy

  • Momentum and potential energy

Attribution#

Problem is licensed under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
The Creative Commons 4.0 license requiring attribution-BY, non-commercial-NC, and share-alike-SA license.