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Two identical blocks A and B each of mass m resting on the smooth horizontal floor are connected by a light spring of natural length L and spring constant K. A third block C of mass m moving with a speed v along the line joining A and B collides with A. The maximum compression in the spring is

Asked in JEE Main 17th March 2nd Shift 2021 · Energy stored and maximum compression

• (1) v√m/(2K)
• (2) √(mv)/(2K)
• (3) √m/(2K)
• (4) √(mv)/K

Step-by-step solution

Why the other options are wrong

• (2) Comes from putting v inside the square root; the expression is not even a length.
• (3) Comes from dropping v altogether; the compression must grow with the impact speed.
• (4) Comes from putting v inside the root and dropping the factor 2 from the shared kinetic energy.

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