An astronaut with a mass of #70 kg# is floating in space. If the astronaut throws a #15 kg# object at a speed of #5/4 m/s#, how much will his speed change by?

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Answer 1 · 2018-06-07T17:05:28

The change in the speed of the astronaut is #=0.27ms^-1#

#m_1u_1+m_2u_2=m_1v_1+m_2v_2#

The mass of the astronaut is #m_1=70kg#

The mass of the object is #m_2=15kg#

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,

#70v_1+15*5/4=0#

The speed of the astronaut is #v_1=-(15*5/4)/(70)=-0.27ms^-1#