Question

A boy standing at one end of a floating raft that is stationary relative to the shore walks to the opposite end of the raft, away from shore. As a consequence, the raft (a) remains stationary, (b) moves away from the shore, or (c) moves toward the shore. (Hint: Use Conservation of Momentum)

Answer 1

Answer:

(c) moves toward the shore.

Explanation:

Momentum can be defined as the multiplication (product) of the mass possessed by an object and its velocity. Momentum is considered to be a vector quantity because it has both magnitude and direction.

Mathematically, momentum is given by the formula;

$Momentum = mass * velocity$

The law of conservation of momentum states that the total linear momentum of any closed system would always remain constant with respect to time.

In this scenario, a boy standing at one end of a floating raft that is stationary relative to the shore walks to the opposite end of the raft, away from shore. As a consequence, the raft moves toward the shore because the momentum of the closed system (boy and raft) has a zero magnitude and would remain constant.