An astronaut in her space suit has a total mass of 87.0 kg, including suit and oxygen tank. Her tether line loses its attachment to her spacecraft while she’s on a spacewalk. Initially at rest with respect to her spacecraft, she throws her 12.0 kg oxygen tank away from her spacecraft with a speed of 8.00 m/s to propel herself back toward it. a.What is her subsequent velocity after she throws her oxygen tank? b.Explain in terms of Newton’s laws of motion why this strategy works?

Answered: An astronaut in her space suit has a…

Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Foundations and Connections

1st Edition

ISBN:9781133939146

Author:Katz, Debora M.

Publisher:Katz, Debora M.

Chapter10: Systems Of Particles And Conservation Of Momentum

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 48PQ

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An astronaut in her space suit has a total mass of 87.0 kg, including suit and oxygen tank. Her tether line loses its attachment to her spacecraft while she’s on a spacewalk. Initially at rest with respect to her spacecraft, she throws her 12.0 kg oxygen tank away from her spacecraft with a speed of 8.00 m/s to propel herself back toward it. a.What is her subsequent velocity after she throws her oxygen tank? b.Explain in terms of Newton’s laws of motion why this strategy works?

Expert Solution

Step 1

(a) Apply the conservation of momentum to determine the astronaut’s velocity.

Here, m_a, m_t, v, v_a and v_t represent the mass of an astronaut, the mass of the oxygen tank, the combined velocity of the astronaut and the tank, the velocity of the astronaut and the velocity of the oxygen tank, respectively.

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