Two hockey players on ice skates push off of each other. One has a mass of 60 kilograms. The other has a mass of 80 kilograms.
What is the 60-kilogram player’s momentum?
more information is required. Need the velocity of one of them to find the other.
To calculate the momentum of an object, you need to multiply its mass by its velocity.
Given that the mass of the 60-kilogram player is 60 kilograms, we need to know their velocity to calculate the momentum accurately. Can you provide the velocity of the player?
To calculate the momentum of an object, you need to multiply its mass by its velocity. In this case, we are given the mass of the 60-kilogram player, but we don't have the velocity. However, we can assume that both players are initially at rest before they push off each other.
Since they are initially at rest, their initial momentum is zero. When they push off each other, their total momentum is conserved, which means that the sum of their individual momenta remains constant.
Let's assume that after the push, the 80-kilogram player moves to the right with some velocity (v) and the 60-kilogram player moves to the left with the same velocity (–v). Since momentum is conserved, the total momentum before and after the push should be the same.
Since the initial momentum is zero, the final momentum should also be zero. Therefore, we can write the equation:
(60 kg) * (–v) + (80 kg) * v = 0
Simplifying the equation:
–60v + 80v = 0
20v = 0
Dividing both sides by 20:
v = 0
Since the velocity (v) is 0, it means that the players did not move after pushing off each other. Therefore, the momentum of the 60-kilogram player is also 0.