Question

Imagine that an astronaut is adrift in deep space, floating at rest with respect to his spaceship. The ship is a mere 25 m away, but the astronaut has no tether (connecting rope) nor does he have any means of propulsion. The only item he has, in addition to his space suit, is a tool belt with several wrenches and screwdrivers attached. How can the astronaut get back to his ship, or can he at all?

Answer 1

By throwing wrenches and screwdrivers away the side of spaceship he might be able to get back.

Step-by-step explanation:

Theory

The law of conservation of linear momentum

The sum of linear momentum of a closed system under no external unbalance force remains the same.

Here consider the astronaut and the wrenches and screwdrivers as a system.

System in the empty space so no external unbalance force exerted on the astronaut. As the linear momentum is conserved when he throw wrenches and screwdrivers away form the space ship he will gain an equal momentum in the opposite direction. So he gains a certain velocity which he can use to drift towards the spaceship.