Question

1.) Two ice skaters stand next to each other on frictionless ice and then push off of each other horizontally. If skater A is twice as massive as skater B, describe how the momentum of skater B compares to that of skater A.

Answer 1

Let the initial momentum of skater A is P_A1 .

Let the initial momentum of skater B is P_B2.

The initial velocity of skater A and skater B is zero.

Let the mass of skater B is m.

   Mass of skater A is 2m.

  

  

Let the final momentum is P₁.

Let the final momentum is P₂.

From Newton's 2nd Laws of motion and conservation of momentum, the initial and final momentum is conserved of any system.

  

The momentum of skater A is equal in magnitude but negative in direction to the skater B.