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An astronaut with a mass of #75 kg# is floating in space. If the astronaut throws an object with a mass of #2 kg# at a speed of #5/4 m/s#, how much will his speed change by?

Answer 1

Adrian Ayala

The speed of the astronaut will change by #=1/30ms^-1#

We have conservation of momentum

#m_1u_1+m_2u_2=m_1v_1+m_2v_2#

The mass of the astronaut is #m_1=75kg#

The mass of the object is #m_2=2kg#

As the astronaut is floating in space initially,

#u_1=u_2=0ms^-1#

The speed of the object is #v_2=5/4ms^-1#

Therefore,

#75v_1+5/4*2=0#

The speed of the astronaut is #v_1=-5/4*1/75*2=-1/30ms^-1#

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Answer 2

Charlotte Aaron

The astronaut's speed will change by approximately 1/150 m/s.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.