Thread: Astronaut

A 68.5 astronaut is doing a repair in space on the orbiting space station. She throws a 2.40 tool away from her at 3.60 relative to the space station.

With what speed direction will she begin to move?

i figured it would be 3.60 m/s in the opposite direction but this answer doesnt seem to be correct and im not sure exactly why

any help would be appreciated thank you.

Originally Posted by elexis10

A 68.5 astronaut is doing a repair in space on the orbiting space station. She throws a 2.40 tool away from her at 3.60 relative to the space station.

With what speed direction will she begin to move?

i figured it would be 3.60 m/s in the opposite direction but this answer doesnt seem to be correct and im not sure exactly why

any help would be appreciated thank you.

This is a conservation of momentum problem. The astronaut's momentum will be , where is the momentum of the tool. Momentum is .

CB