How Long Does It Take Astronaut Jane to Drift Back to Her Spaceship?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves Astronaut Jane, who is stranded 75.0 meters from her spaceship after her lifeline comes loose. She throws a wrench to propel herself back, and the discussion centers around calculating the time it takes for her to return to the spaceship, considering her mass and the mass of the wrench.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the conservation of momentum and how to set up the equations based on the masses involved. There are questions about whether the distance of 75 meters needs to be factored into the calculations and how it relates to the time taken to return to the spaceship.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance on the use of momentum conservation and have noted that the distance is necessary for calculating time. There is an ongoing exploration of the calculations related to final velocity and how that impacts the time to travel back.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working within the constraints of the problem statement and are attempting to clarify the relationship between the distance, velocity, and time without reaching a final conclusion.

Mowgli
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Homework Statement



Astronaut Jane's lifeline to her spaceship comes loose and she finds herself stranded, "floating" 75.0m from the spaceship. She throws her 2.00kg wrench at 20.0m/s in a direction away from the ship. If she and her spacesuit have a combined mass of 175kg how long does it take her to coast back to the spaceship?



Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



This one I am so lost about...

Do I use the equation: (Mass of Suit x Mass of Jane) Initial Velocity + Mass of wrench (Initial Velocity) = (M of Suit + M of Jane) (V 1 + M of wrench (V 1 of wrench)

Therefore = (175kg) 0 + 2kg (0) = (175kg) (final velocity + 2kg (20.0m/s)
 
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All is good to this point.
 
Do I have to factor in the fact that she floated 75 m away?
 
Mowgli said:
Do I have to factor in the fact that she floated 75 m away?

That does not influence conservation of momentum.

You only need the distance to find the time it takes to get back to the ship.
 
Mowgli said:

Homework Statement




Therefore = (175kg) 0 + 2kg (0) = (175kg) (final velocity + 2kg (20.0m/s)

then 0=175(final velocity) + 40

final velocity = -40/175
= -0.23 m/s ??
 
Mowgli said:
then 0=175(final velocity) + 40

final velocity = -40/175
= -0.23 m/s ??

Looks okay so far.
 
what else needs to be done?
 
Mowgli said:
what else needs to be done?
You need to find out how much time it takes for someone to travel 75.0 m when traveling at a speed of 0.229 m/s.
 

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