Question

Two ice skaters push off against one another from a stationary position. The 45 kg skater acquires a speed of .375 m/s. What speed does the 60 kg skater acquire?

Answer 1

I found: `0.281m/s` in the opposite direction

Explanation:

I would use Conservation of Momentum where the momentum before the push must be equal to the momentum after (if the resultant of the external forces is zero and we do not change masses).

Momentum (linear) along, say, the `x-`axis is:
`p=mv`

so we have for the 2 skaters system:
`p_("before")=p_("after")`

`(45*0)+(60*0)=(45*0.375)+(60*v)`

and rearranging:

`v=-(45*0.375)/60=-0.281m/s` in the opposite direction (minus sign) from the `45kg` guy.