An astronaut with a mass of #75 kg# is floating in space. If the astronaut throws an object with a mass of #6 kg# at a speed of #4/5 m/s#, how much will his speed change by?

1 Answer
Sunayan S
May 14, 2017

The astronaut will get a velocity #0.064ms^-1# opposite to the direction of the object.

Explanation:

The problem stands on the conservation law of momentum.
The formula is #m_1v_1+m_2v_2=m_1u_1+m_2u_2#
Here primary momentum is 0 as the velocity of the man with the object was 0.
So,
#m_1v_1+m_2v_2=0#
Let the mass of the astronaut is #m_1# and the object #m_2#and its velocity #v_2#.
Then, #v_1#=#-(24/(75×5))#=-0.064
The -ve shows the direction to be opposite.

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