During a spacewalk, an astronaut notices that her tether is not attached, and she is drifting away from
the space station. Explain each statement below using Newton’s third law.
a) She can pull herself back to the space station if she can reach the space station and pull on it.
b) She cannot push herself back to the space station by pulling forward on her space suit.
c) She can get back to the space station, even if she cannot reach it, if she is holding a tool.
a) According to Newton's third law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, if the astronaut pulls on the space station, exerting a force on it, the space station will exert an equal and opposite force on the astronaut. This reaction force will cause the astronaut to move towards the space station and eventually pull herself back.
b) When the astronaut pulls forward on her space suit, she is exerting a force on her own body. According to Newton's third law, her body will exert an equal and opposite force back onto her. This reaction force cannot push her back towards the space station as the force is acting on the astronaut herself and not on any external object.
c) If the astronaut is holding a tool, and she throws the tool in the opposite direction of her drift, she will experience a reaction force according to Newton's third law. The force from throwing the tool will cause an equal and opposite force on the astronaut, propelling her back towards the space station.
a) According to Newton's third law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, when the astronaut pulls on the space station, she exerts a force on it. By Newton's third law, the space station will exert an equal and opposite force on the astronaut. This reactive force will allow her to move toward the space station and ultimately pull herself back to it.
b) To understand why the astronaut cannot push herself back to the space station by pulling forward on her space suit, we need to consider Newton's third law. When she pulls forward on her suit, she exerts a force on it. By Newton's third law, the suit will exert an equal and opposite force on the astronaut. Since the forces are acting in the same direction, they cancel each other out and do not result in any net force to move the astronaut toward the space station.
c) If the astronaut is holding a tool, she can use Newton's third law to propel herself back to the space station. By throwing the tool in the opposite direction, the astronaut will exert a force on the tool. According to Newton's third law, the tool will exert an equal and opposite force on the astronaut. This reactive force can push the astronaut in the direction of the space station, allowing her to get back even if she cannot reach it directly.
a) According to Newton's third law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, if the astronaut pulls on the space station, she exerts a force on it. As a result of Newton's third law, the space station exerts an equal and opposite force on the astronaut, which would pull her back towards the space station.
b) If the astronaut tries to push herself back to the space station by pulling forward on her space suit, she will not be able to achieve this due to Newton's third law. When she pulls forward on her space suit, she exerts a force on it. However, as per Newton's third law, an equal and opposite force is exerted on her by her space suit. This force only cancels out the astronaut's own force and does not result in a net force that could propel her towards the space station.
c) If the astronaut is holding a tool, she can use it to propel herself towards the space station. By throwing or releasing the tool in the opposite direction of the space station, according to Newton's third law, an equal and opposite force is exerted on the astronaut. This reaction force can provide enough propulsion to bring her back to the space station, even if she cannot physically reach it with her hands.