Question

Two skaters with masses of 58 kg and 50 kg, respectively, stand 8.2 m apart, each holding one end of a piece of rope. If they both pull themselves alona the rode with equal force until they meet, how far does each skater travel?

Answer 1

When two skaters with different masses pull themselves along a rope with equal force until they meet, the skater with the larger mass will experience a smaller acceleration compared to the skater with the smaller mass. Each skater will travel a distance of 4.1 m.

Step-by-step explanation:

When the two skaters pull themselves along the rope with equal force, they will both experience an equal and opposite force. According to Newton's Third Law, the skater with the larger mass will experience a smaller acceleration compared to the skater with the smaller mass.

To determine how far each skater travels, we can use the concept of center of mass. Since the skaters are initially 8.2 m apart and they will meet at the center, each skater will travel half the distance. Therefore, each skater will travel a distance of 8.2 m / 2 = 4.1 m.