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Homework Statement
A 6 kg mass and 3 kg mass are at rest on a frictionless table. A massless spring is compressed between them and they are held together with a string. When released (string is cut) the 6 kg mass moves to the left at 4 m/s - what is the velocity of the 3 kg mass as it moves to the right?
Homework Equations
a little unsure - i believe i need to use the F=kx (force of a spring) and assume that k is constant throughout since its the same spring for both.
The Attempt at a Solution
what i did was assume that the force on each mass was the same since each was compressed the same and had the same spring constant, k.
what i then did was assume that if that force moved the 6 kg mass 4 m/s to the left, that it would have an equal reaction to the 2nd mass which was only 3 kg. thinking in terms of momentum (is that correct?) i said the 2nd mass would move to the right at 8 m/s:
(6 kg)(4 m/s) = (3 kg)(x m/s)
x = 8 m/s
is this correct? does my logic work?
thanks.