Question

aspace walking astronaut has become detached from her spaceship! She’s floating in space with her handy tool belt attached to her waist, thinking about how she might get back to the ship, which she can see 50m from her current location. How can she get back to the ship? Use the language from the laws of motion in your answer.

What can she do with the tool belt?

What will that action cause her body to do? Why?

Which of Newton’s Laws applies to this situation?

Write a paragraph which incorporates all of the above information.

Answer 1

Answer:

In order to get back to the ship, the astronaut must throw the belt in the opposite direction the spaceship.

From Newton's third law of motion:

For every action, there is equal and opposite reaction.

In order to throw the belt away, astronaut would apply some force which cause same amount of force acting on her body in the opposite direction which would take her towards the spaceship.