First we have to make clear what the reading on the spring scale means. It means the current tension force in the spring scale.
So, I would say that the "reading" of the scale in this "situation" will be the same in the usual situation where one end of the scale is fixed on a wall. The two...
Well what I meant was, can that stage be seen as a collision? More specifically, can I split the process into stages? After all there was indeed a frictional force applied by the surface; that was an external force for my system. Besides, the original question did not state that f was...
Thanks for your help Tiny-tim.
Still, to avoid some misunderstanding arising from my poor statement, I think I should post the standard solution: (the solution mentioned "internal energy," but I don't want to use this concept because it wasn't taught in class, nor was it mentioned in my text...
Thanks for your help, Alphysicist. I'm still confused, though; this is probably because I didn't think carefully enough while studying, so I guess I should study for a while before I can restate my problem clearly enough. Thanks again!
Sorry I clcked the wrong button and sent it out before typing anything... I didn't even catch up on the 30-min editting time. Please forgive my slow typing...
Homework Statement
A wood block with mass M was laid on a frictional surface with coefficient of kinetic friction u. A bullet with...