Spring problem with two masses question.

[verthex]

Hello,

The question I have is in regards to this page http://www.myphysicslab.com/molecule2.html
where setting the gravity to zero and setting the mass of the red ball to 30 causes the system to move to the right slowly. You can reset the system after setting up the two variables so that no external forces are present. Why does the location of the two masses (system) change and how is this represented. Is there a conservation of momentum. I understand the part about solving for this system by finding the COM and then treating each ball as a separate spring problem like the next link
http://www.myphysicslab.com/spring1.html, although I'm not sure what the spring constant becomes when solving for each system. Thanks.WHOOPS! nevermind. I think there is an error in the simulation. If you change the mass of the red ball to 90 and the gravity to 0 and reset the simulation and then change the red ball mass to 30, the system will shift to the right.

 

[Evalesco]

It looks like the red ball is not being affected by the gravity, but only by the other mass. This is consistent with Newton's Third Law of Motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The energy of the system is conserved, meaning that the total energy remains constant throughout the motion. So, when the red ball exerts a force on the other mass, it will experience the same force from the other mass in the opposite direction, resulting in the shifting of the system.

As for solving for the system, you can treat each ball as a separate spring problem and find the spring constant for each system. The spring constant is a measure of the force required to move the ball from its equilibrium position. You can calculate this by dividing the force applied to the ball by the displacement of the ball.