An astronaut with a mass of #75 kg# is floating in space. If the astronaut throws a #4 kg# object at a speed of #6 m/s#, how much will his speed change by?

1 Answer
Apr 17, 2016

#.32 ms^(-1)#

Explanation:

As the astronaut is floating in the space, there is no force acting on the system. So the total momentum is conserved.

#"Intital momentum" = "final momentum"#

#0=m_("astronaut")*v_("astronaut") +m_("object")*v_("object")#

# -75 kg * v = 6kg * 4ms^(-1)#

#v = - .32 ms^(-1)#