A bead of mass, m, slides without friction on a smooth rod along the x-axis. The rod is equidistant between two spheres of mass M. The spheres are located at x=0, y= +a and x=0, y=-a, and attract the bead gravitationally.
a) Find the potential energy of the bead.
b) The bead is released from at x=3a with velocity Vo toward the origin. Find the speed as it passes the origin.