Jack Bumblespeed, our fearless space walker, runs out of fuel in his power pack

Question

Jack Bumblespeed, our fearless space walker, runs out of fuel in his power pack while drifting at 1.0 m/s away from the International Space Station. Jack, remembering what he learned in physics class, removes his 25.0 kg power pack and throws it away at 2.7 m/s relative to the Station and in the direction away from the Station. The mass of Jack plus space suit, minus power pack, is 97.0 kg. Calculate the new relative velocity of Jack towards the Space Station to see if he will catch up with the Station. Take velocity away from the Station to be minus.

Explanation / Answer

Given,

v1 = 1 m/s ; m2 = 25 kg ; v2 = 2.7 m/s ; m1 = 97 kg

Let v be the new relative velocity.

From conservation of momentum

Pi = Pf

(97 + 25) x -1 + 0 = 97 v + 25 x -2.7

-122 + 67.4 = 97 v => v = -0.562 m/s

Hence, v = -0.562 m/s

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