While you are standing on a expanse of smooth ice, your friend throws a heavy ball towards you. How can you maximize your speed after your interaction with the ball?
a. More information is needed to determine how you should maximize your speed.
b. It doesn't matter since your speed is going to be the same regardless.
c. You should let the ball go past you without touching it all.
d. You should hit the ball back to your friend with the same speed at which it was thrown at you.
e. You should catch the ball
From my calculations, the person's speed would be greatest if they hit the ball back towards their friend, but I'm not sure I did the calculations correctly. Also, since it says to maximize your speed, I'm assuming option c is out of the question because it would not change the person's speed. Is that correct?
You are correct in assuming that option c, letting the ball go past you without touching it, would not change your speed. To maximize your speed after the interaction with the ball, you would need to apply a force to the ball in the opposite direction to the force it was thrown at you. According to Newton's third law of motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, by applying a force to the ball in the opposite direction, you would experience an equal force in the other direction, which would result in an increase in your speed.
Option d, hitting the ball back to your friend with the same speed at which it was thrown at you, would indeed maximize your speed. By hitting the ball back with the same speed, you are applying a force to the ball that is equal and opposite to the force it was thrown at you. As a result, you would experience an equal and opposite force, causing your speed to increase.
So, based on your calculations, option d seems to be the correct answer for maximizing your speed after the interaction with the ball.