A 400 kg astronaut (that’s the mass of the person and the suit) is on a spacewalk when his tether breaks. He is floating slowly away from the shuttle with a velocity of 0.5 m/s. The astronaut decides to take off his tool belt (20 kg worth of tools) and throw it away from the ship to solve his problem. With what velocity must he throw the 20 kg tool belt to get himself moving in the right direction?

Question

A 400 kg	astronaut	(that’s the mass of	the person and	the suit) is on a spacewalk when his tether breaks. 	He is floating slowly away from the shuttle with a velocity of 0.5	m/s.  The 	astronaut decides to take off his tool belt (20 kg  worth of tools) and	throw it away from	the ship to solve his problem. 	With	what	 velocity	must he throw the 20 kg tool belt to get himself moving	in the right direction?

anonymous · Answer

m1 v1 = -m2 v2   the momentum of the thrown object, m2 v2, must offset the astronaut's momentum, m1 v1,  by being thrown in the opposite direction.