Question: Two people stand facing each other at a roller-skating rink then push off each other. If the girl skater has a mass of 30 kg and moves backward at 5 m/s, what is the velocity of the boy skater if his mass is 50 kg?
Answer:
3 m/s
Explanation:
Applying,
The Law of conservation of momentum
Momentum of the girl skater = momentum of the boy skater
MV = mv...................... Equation 1
Where M = mass of the girl skater, V = velocity of the girl skater, m = mass of the boy skater, v = velocity of the boy skater
From the question, we were asked to calculate v
v = MV/m.................. Equation 1
Given: M = 30 kg, V = 5 m/s, m = 50 kg
Substitute these values into equation 1
v = (30×5)/50
v = 3 m/s
Hence the velocity of the the boy skater is 3m/s
