High School

Dear beloved readers, welcome to our website! We hope your visit here brings you valuable insights and meaningful inspiration. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and explore the content we've prepared for you.
------------------------------------------------ An astronaut at rest in space with a mass of 84 kg fires a thruster that expels 35 g of hot gas at 875 m/s. What is the velocity of the astronaut after firing the thruster?

Answer :

Answer:

about 0.365 m/s

Explanation:

You want to know the velocity of an astronaut who starts from rest and fires a thruster that expels 35 g of gas at 875 m/s.

Momentum

The total momentum of the system is the same before and after the thruster is fired: 0.

If v is the velocity of the astronaut, it must satisfy the equation ...

(84)v +(0.035)(875) = 0

v = -(0.035)(875)/(84) ≈ -0.3646

The velocity of the astronaut is about 0.365 m/s in the direction opposite of the expelled gas.

__

Additional comment

We have used (kg·m/s) as the units of momentum. 35 g = 0.035 kg. We have also assumed that the mass of the system before firing is a total of 84.035 kg