A 500-g block is released from rest and slides down a frictionless track that begins 2.00 m above the horizontal, as shown in the figure below. At the bottom of the track, where the surface is horizontal, the block strikes and sticks to a light spring with a spring constant of 20.0 N/m.
(a)Find the maximum distance the spring is compressed.
(b) calculate the period of the ensuing simple harmonic motion of the mass stuck to the spring, and
(c) setting t = 0 and x = 0 at the moment of impact between the block and the spring (i.e. this is the initial phase of the motion), write a simple harmonic motion equation for the position of the block as a function of time and draw a sketch of the graph of x vs. t for one period.
