Question

A small block of wood of inertia mb is released from rest a distance h above the ground, directly above your head. you decide to shoot it with your pellet gun, which fires a pellet of inertia mp. after the block has fallen a distance d, the pellet hits it and becomes embedded in it, kicking it upward. at the instant of impact, the pellet is moving at speed vp.

Answer 1

Since I'm assuming that its perfectly elastic, considering there's not enough information given, so I think that no energy is dissipated in the collision

hmax = h - d + { [ mpvp - mb√(2gd) ] / (mp+mb) }² / (2g)