On a Frictionless Horizontal Surface, a 1 $$\text { Smooth surface }$$

Essay

On a frictionless horizontal surface, a 1.50-kg mass traveling at 3.50 m/s suddenly collides
with and sticks to a 3.00-kg mass that is initially at rest, as shown in the figure. This
system then runs into an ideal spring of force constant (spring constant) 50.0 N/cm.
(a) What will be the maximum compression distance of the spring?
(b) How much mechanical energy is lost during this process? During which parts of the
process (the collision and compression of the spring) is this energy lost? $$\text { Smooth surface }$$