Question

Squids and octopuses propel themselves by expelling water. They do this by keeping water in a cavity and then suddenly contracting the cavity to force out the water through an opening. A 6.50 kg squid (including the water in the cavity) at rest suddenly sees a dangerous predator. Part A If the squid has 1.55 kg of water in its cavity, at what speed must it expel this water to instantaneously achieve a speed of 2.40 m/s to escape the predator

Answer 1

10.1 m/s

Step-by-step explanation:

By Newton's third law, the force on the squid and that due to the water expelled form an action reaction pair.

And by the law of conservation of momentum,

initial momentum of squid + expelled water = final momentum of squid + expelled water.

Now, the initial momentum of the system is zero.

So, 0 = final momentum of squid + expelled water

0 = MV + mv where M = mass of squid = 6.50kg, V = velocity of squid = 2.40m/s, m =mass of water in cavity = 1.55 kg and v = velocity of water expelled

So, MV + mv = 0

MV = -mv

v = -MV/m

= -6.50 kg × 2.40 m/s ÷ 1.55 kg

= -15.6 kgm/s ÷ 1.55 kg

= -10.1 m/s

So, speed must it expel this water to instantaneously achieve a speed of 2.40 m/s to escape the predator is 10.1 m/s