Please provide a solution for this question (in English, preferably). Link: https://mathus.ru/olymp/vseros1998f11fin.pdf
Let’s denote x(t) and v(t) as coordinate and velocity of a cube relative to table and X and V as for the plate. The motion of this system is quite complicated because the directon of friction force depends on the sign of relative speed, but let’s first assume that v(t)>V(t), so
We have x(0)=X(0)=V(0)=0 and v(0)=v_0, thus we get
How to maximize the released heat? We need the system to stop at some specific moment so all of the X, v, V parameters would be equal to zero. In this case, the further motion is impossible, and Q_{\text{max}}=mv_0^2/2.
If we put time to be equal
we get X(t_n)=V(t_n) = 0. Let’s require a condition v(t_n) = 0. In this case we get t_n = \displaystyle\frac{v_0}{\mu g}, or
and also in this moment
If we put n\geq4, we get x(t_n)>L, which should not happen, so we get three values of \mu which are given below.
The main assumption I did is that v(t)>V(t) throughout the problem. The velocity of plate could be higher around the t\approx t_n because
In this interval I can describe velocities in terms of acceleration, i.e. v(t)\approx \ddot x(t_n) (t - t_n) and V(t) \approx \ddot X(t_n) (t - t_n), so in order to meet our conditions we should check for
(I put “<” instead of “>” because t-t_n<0) or
Also you may prove the second part of the question graphically, which is quite easier than an analytical method.
Thanks, I’ll take a look at the second part.