Solving for Kinetic Energy Lost in Spring Gun

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the fraction of kinetic energy stored in a spring when a ball is shot into a spring gun. A ball of mass 56 g is shot at 20 m/s and sticks in the barrel of a 222 g spring gun, which is initially at rest. The final velocity after the collision is calculated to be -4.03 m/s using the conservation of momentum equation. The kinetic energy before the collision is compared to the kinetic energy after the collision to determine how much energy is stored as potential energy in the spring. Participants are trying to clarify how to correctly calculate the fraction of energy stored without encountering division by zero issues.
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Homework Statement


A ball of mass m = 56 g is shot with speed vi = 20 m/s (in the negative direction of an x axis) into the barrel of a spring gun of mass M = 222 g initially at rest on a frictionless surface. The ball sticks in the barrel at the point of maximum compression of the spring. Assume that the increase in thermal energy due to friction between the ball and the barrel is negligible. What fraction of the initial kinetic energy of the ball is stored in the spring?

Homework Equations


m1v1=(m1+m2)v2
K=.5mv^2


The Attempt at a Solution


I found the final velocity to be -4.03 m/s by using m1v1=(m1+m2)v2 and got v2 to be -4.03m/s. From here I am kind of stuck. It means that its stored as potential energy...so U=Ki-Kf and I have Ki as 0 and Kf as 2257.49. Would i take the potential divided by the Kinetic?
 
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Hi
your on the right tracks
 
but if you take the potential divided by kinetic, you get division by 0
 
still stumped
 
Kindly see the attached pdf. My attempt to solve it, is in it. I'm wondering if my solution is right. My idea is this: At any point of time, the ball may be assumed to be at an incline which is at an angle of θ(kindly see both the pics in the pdf file). The value of θ will continuously change and so will the value of friction. I'm not able to figure out, why my solution is wrong, if it is wrong .
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