A 100 gram block is loaded onto a spring along a horizontal frictionless surface. The spring has a constant of 800 N/m and is compressed by a length of 35cm. The block is then released so it collides and sticks to a 300 gram block, sliding together.
a) Find the blocks speed just after it loses contact with the spring, in m/s.
b) Find the blocks speed once they collide and stick together, in m/s.
c) If this collision lasts 0.05 seconds, what is the average force between the blocks, in N?
d) If the block were initially at the same temperature and are made of bismuth (c = 123 J/(kg C)), what is the temperature increase, in C? Assume all lost energy went to increasing the blocks thermal energy.