text: light spring and compression.? a light spring with force constant 3.85n/m is compressed by 8cm as it is held between a 0.250kg block on the left and a 0.500kg block on the right, both resting on horizontal surface.  the spring exerts a force on each block, tending to push the block apart.  the blocks are simultaneously released from rest.  find the acceleration with which each block starts to move if the coefficient of kinetic friction between each block and the surface is @ 0, 0.100, and 0.462  first of all, i do not visually see this question.  a light spring is one spring mechanism working on 2 blocks?  second, huh? there are only two relevant forces acting on the blocks. the force exerted by the spring which is pushing them apart, and the frictional force which is opposing the spring force.  the kinetic coefficient of friction is k  the spring force = (3.85newtons/meter)(0.08meters) = 0.308 newtons  the frictional force on the left block = (9.8 newtons/kg)(0.25kg)k = 2.45 k newtons  the frictional force on the right block = (9.8 newtons/kg)(0.50kg)k = 4.90 k newtons  the initial acceleration of each block is initial force/mass. note that the spring force on each block must be greater than the frictional force, or the block wont accelerate (acc=0).  for the left block, acceleration = (0.308 - 2.45 k) / 0.25  for the right block, acceleration = (0.308 - 4.90 k) / 0.5  lets plug in the 3 different ks  k = 0, left block acc. = 1.23 m/s^2, right block acc. = 0.61 m/s^2 k = 0.1, left block acc. = 0.25 m/s^2, right block acc. = 0.0 m/s^2 k = 0.462, left block acc. = 0.0 m/s^2, right block acc. = 0.0 m/s^2