College Physics (4th Edition)

Published by McGraw-Hill Education
ISBN 10: 0073512141
ISBN 13: 978-0-07351-214-3

Chapter 7 - Problems - Page 263: 28

Answer

After throwing all the tools, the astronaut is moving with a speed of $0.30~m/s$

Work Step by Step

The initial momentum of the system is zero. By conservation of momentum, if the tools gain a certain momentum $p_t$ in one direction, the astronaut will gain the same magnitude of momentum $p_a$ in the opposite direction. We can find the speed $v_a$ of the astronaut: $p_a = p_t$ $m_a~v_a = m_w~v_w+m_s~v_s+m_m~v_m$ $v_a = \frac{m_w~v_w+m_s~v_s+m_m~v_m}{m_a}$ $v_a = \frac{(0.72~kg)(5.0~m/s)+(0.80~kg)(8.0~m/s)+(1.2~kg)(6.0~m/s)}{58~kg}$ $v_a = 0.30~m/s$ After throwing all the tools, the astronaut is moving with a speed of $0.30~m/s$.
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