456,870 views
11 votes
11 votes
Please Help! 20 BRAIN POINTS

An astronaut (m = 95 kg) and her tool box (m = 21 kg) is drifting through deep space at a speed of 0.4 m/s [FWD]. In order to change the direction of travel, the astronaut throws her tool box forward. What is the minimum speed of the thrown tool box necessary, so that the astronaut changes direction?

User Jonas Kaufmann
by
2.4k points

1 Answer

12 votes
12 votes

Answer:

The Speed of the throw that is required to create enough impulse, to change the direction of the momentum is: -1.81m/s

Step-by-step explanation:

m1=95kg

m2=21kg

V1=.4m/s

V2=?

V'=<0 or -.01 at lowest.

for the Impulse formula, I found: m1 x V1 + m2 x V2 = <0

so,

(95) x (.4) + (21) x (V2)=<0

38kgm/s+(21kg x V2)=<0 or -0.01m/s

I found that V2 was equivalent to -1.81, and when you plugin the value, you get the equation

(95) x (.4) + (21) x (-1.81) = -0.01m/s

User Sotsir
by
3.3k points