The millions of calculations involved, had they been done by hand, () all practical value by the time they were finished.

A. had lost

B. would have lost

C. would lose

D. should have lost

如图所示，半径为R的光滑半圆环轨道与高为10R的光滑斜轨道放在同一竖直平面内，两轨道之间由一条光滑水平轨道CD相连，水平轨道与斜轨道间有一段圆弧过渡．在水平轨道上，轻质弹簧被a、b两小球挤压，处于静止状态．同时释放两个小球，a球恰好能通过圆环轨道最高点A，b球恰好能到达斜轨道的最高点B．已知a球质量为m，重力加速度为g．求：

（1）a球释放时的速度大小；

（2）b球释放时的速度大小；

（3）释放小球前弹簧的弹性势能．