Suppose you are in a spacesuit drifting weightless in space some distance away from your spaceship. You have run out of compressed gas for your mini-thruster. Fortunately, you happen to have a bag of baseballs. What can you do to get back to your spaceship? Please give an answer quickly I have to turn this in today.

v = -\frac{n \ m}{M} \ v'

for the man to return to the ship he must throw the balls in the opposite direction of the ship

Explanation:

For this exercise we can use the conservation of momentum. Let's form a system made up of man and baseballs.

Initial instant. Before throwing the balls

     p₀ = 0

Final moment. After throwing the balls

      = M v + n m v '

where M is the mass of the man, m is the mass of each ball and n is the number of balls , v isthe speed man and v' is the speed ball

Since the forces are internal, the momentum of the system is conserved

     p₀ = p_{f}

      0 = M v + n m v ’

If we analyze this expression, for the man to return to the ship he must throw the balls in the opposite direction of the ship

the minimum constant speed at which she can catch the train is 2.7 m/s

given:

acceleration = 0.6

time = 4.5 s

to find:

velocity = ?

formula used:

from 1st kinematic equation we get,

v = u + at

u = initial speed of train = 0 m/s

v = final speed of the train

a = acceleration of the train

t = time

solution:

from 1st kinematic equation we get,

v = u + at

u = initial speed of train = 0 m/s

v = final speed of the train

a = acceleration of the train

t = time

v = 0 + (0.6 × 4.5)

v = 2.7 m/s

the minimum constant speed at which she can catch the train is 2.7 m/s