Question

An astronaut on the moon pushes with her left hand on a small rock and with her right hand on a large rock. Each hand pushes with a force of 15 N. The small rock has mass 2 kg and the large rock has mass 8 kg. What forces do the rocks exert on the astronaut?

The small rock exerts a pushing force of 20 N; the large rock exerts a pushing force of 78 N.

The small rock exerts a pushing force of 3 N; the large rock exerts a pushing force of 12 N.

Each rock exerts a pushing force of 7.5 N.

Each rock exerts a pushing force of 15 N.

Answer 1

Both would go 15N. Hoped I helped!

Answer 2

Each rock exerts a pushing force of 15 N.

Step-by-step explanation:

The clue here is that the astronaut pushes with a force of 15N.

To understand this better we need to recur to Newton's third law which states

For every action (force), there's an equal and opposite reaction.

So, we know that the astronaut pushed both rocks with 15N force. By Netwon's third law, both rocks exert a force of 15N back, because such reaction must be equal.

Therefore, the right answer is the last choice: Each rock exerts a pushing force of 15 N.