Physics in Space: Conservation of Momentum
An astronaut performs maintenance work outside her spaceship when the tether connecting her to the spaceship breaks. The astronaut finds herself at rest relative to the spaceship, at a distance x1 from it. To get back to the ship, she decides to sacrifice her favorite wrench and hurls it directly away from the spaceship at a speed v relative to the spaceship. What is the distance x2 between the spaceship and the wrench by the time the astronaut reaches the spaceship?
The mass of the astronaut is ma; the mass of the wrench is mw ....
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Answer: ABE
Because, in the option A, in numerator and denominator the mass units are equal ...
Solution Summary
The solution provides calculations for physics problems related to an astronaut performing maintenance work outside of a spaceship. The distance between a hurled wrench and the spaceship is calculated.