A 1800 g mass starts from rest and slides a distance l down a frictionless 26? incline, where it contacts an unstressed 56 cm long spring of negligible mass as shown in the figure. The mass slides an additional 14 cm as it is brought momentarily to rest by compressing the spring of force constant 23 N/cm.
The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s2 .
Note: The spring lies along the surface of the ramp. Assume: The ramp is frictionless.
Now, the external force is rapidly removed so that the compressed spring can push up the mass.
Find the initial separation between mass and spring.
Answer in units of m.