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MightyMan11
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Homework Statement
A two-stage rocket is traveling at 1192.0 m/s with respect to the Earth when the first stage runs out of fuel. Explosive bolts release the first stage and push it backward with a speed of 32.4 m/s relative to the second stage. The first stage is 2.00 times as massive as the second stage. What is the speed of the second stage after the separation?
Homework Equations
Conversation of momentum.
The Attempt at a Solution
I first set the second stage's mass as "m". The mass of the first stage then would be "2m" and the total rocket would have a mass of "3m".
Using the conservation of momentum I made an equation:
momentum of first stage+momentum of second stage= momentum of the rocket
(-32.4)*(2m) + v(m) = 1192(3m)
the m's cancel out and I solved for v:
3,640.8 m/s
however this does not match the answer in my textbook... :/
Thanks in advanced.