An astronaut is floating in space 100 m from her ship when her safety cable becomes unlatched. She and the ship are motionless relative to each other. The astronaut's mass (including space suit) is 100 kg; she has a 1.0 kg wrench and only a 20 minute air supply. Thinking back to her physics classes, she devises a plan to use conservation of momentum to get back to the ship safely by throwing the wrench  away from her. Part A: In what direction should she throw the wrench? Part B: What is the magnitude of her recoil velocit if she throws the wrench at 10 m/s? Part C: If the astronaut has only a 10-minute air supply left, how fast must she throw the wrench so that she makes it back to the spaceship in time?

College Physics
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Author:Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille
Publisher:Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille
Chapter6: Momentum And Collisions
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An astronaut is floating in space 100 m from her ship when her safety cable becomes unlatched. She and the ship are motionless relative to each other. The astronaut's mass (including space suit) is 100 kg; she has a 1.0 kg wrench and only a 20 minute air supply. Thinking back to her physics classes, she devises a plan to use conservation of momentum to get back to the ship safely by throwing the wrench  away from her.

Part A: In what direction should she throw the wrench?

Part B: What is the magnitude of her recoil velocit if she throws the wrench at 10 m/s?

Part C: If the astronaut has only a 10-minute air supply left, how fast must she throw the wrench so that she makes it back to the spaceship in time?

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