An astronaut is about 20 m from her space station when the rocket thrusters run out of fuel. If she is carrying a few tools and can remove the rocket thruster, what should she do to get back to the space station? Explain reasoning.
as the two air pressures equalize it should cause thrus
use his compass
throw it away from the station with as much force as she can, and make sure she doesn't miss, so she will float back to the station
To get back to the space station, the astronaut can use the principle of conservation of momentum. When she removes the rocket thruster, the total momentum of the system (astronaut+tools+thruster) remains constant.
Here is what the astronaut can do to get back to the space station:
1. Calculate the initial momentum of the system:
- The momentum is equal to the mass of an object multiplied by its velocity. Since we are considering the system of the astronaut and the tools, we will calculate the total mass first. Let's assume the combined mass of the astronaut and the tools is 'M'. The velocity of the astronaut and the tools is set to zero initially.
- The initial momentum of the system is then 0, as there is no motion.
2. Remove the rocket thruster:
- The astronaut can detach the rocket thruster from herself and let it float away.
- By doing this, the mass of the system decreases. Let's say the mass of the rocket thruster is 'm'.
3. Calculate the final momentum of the system:
- After removing the rocket thruster, the combined mass of the astronaut and tools reduces to 'M-m'.
- Since the astronaut and tools are initially at rest, the final velocity of the system is zero.
- The final momentum of the system becomes 0.
4. Apply conservation of momentum:
- According to the principle of conservation of momentum, the initial momentum of the system is equal to the final momentum of the system.
- This can be expressed as: (mass of astronaut+tools) × initial velocity = (mass of astronaut+tools) × final velocity.
- As both the initial and final velocities are zero, we get: 0 = (M-m) × 0.
- This equation shows that the astronaut can reach back to the space station even without the rocket thruster, as long as the initial combined mass of the astronaut and tools is equal to the mass of the rocket thruster.
Therefore, the astronaut should remove the rocket thruster and just let it float away. By doing so, the astronaut will conserve her momentum and continue moving towards the space station.