An astronaut having mass 320 kg with equipment included is attempting an untethered space walk. The astronaut is initially at re
st with respect to the nearby spacecraft, but discharges 30.0 g of nitrogen gas at 900.0 m/s from a portable propulsion unit. How fast is the astronaut moving after doing that? 84 m/s
This can be solved using momentum balance, since momentum is conserved, the momentum at point 1 is equal to the momentum of point 2. momentum = mass x velocity m1v1 = m2v2 (0.03kg x 900 m/s ) = 320(v2) v2 = 27 / 320 v2 = 0.084 m/s is the speed of the astronaut
