A satellite explodes in outer space, far from any other body,sending thousand of pieces in all direction.How does the linear momentum of the satellite before the explosion compare with the total linear momentum of all the pieces after the explosion ?
If the external force on the satellite is zero, the linear momentum will be conserved. This would be the case for a satellite out in the space where the gravitational pull of earth is nearly zero.
In such a situation the fragments will fly off in all the directions obeying the conservation principle of momentum
To understand how the linear momentum of the satellite before the explosion compares with the total linear momentum of all the pieces after the explosion, we need to consider the principle of conservation of linear momentum.
The principle of conservation of linear momentum states that in the absence of external forces, the total linear momentum of a system remains constant. This means that the initial linear momentum of the satellite before the explosion should be equal to the final total linear momentum of all the pieces after the explosion.
The linear momentum of an object is calculated as the product of its mass and velocity. Therefore, the total linear momentum before the explosion is the momentum of the satellite, and after the explosion, it is the sum of the momenta of all the pieces.
Since the satellite exploded in outer space, far from any other body, there are no external forces acting on the system of the satellite and its pieces. Therefore, the conservation of linear momentum applies.
If we assume that the explosion is an isolated event with no external forces, the linear momentum before the explosion can be expressed as the mass of the satellite times its velocity. After the explosion, the linear momentum of each individual piece can be calculated as the mass of the piece times its respective velocity. Adding up the linear momenta of all the pieces will give us the total linear momentum after the explosion.
So, in summary, the linear momentum of the satellite before the explosion is equal to the total linear momentum of all the pieces after the explosion, provided there are no external forces.