Question

Three ice skaters meet at the center of a rink and each stands at rest facing the center, within arm's reach of the other two. On a signal, each skater pushes himself away from the other two across the frictionless ice. After the push, skater A with mass mA = 80.0 kg moves in the negative y-direction at 4.00 m/s and skater B with mass mB = 95.0 kg moves in the negative x-direction at 3.50 m/s. Find the x- and y-components of the 85.0 kg skater C's velocity (in m/s) after the push. HINT vCx = m/s vCy = m/s

Answer 1

Given Data:

The mass of skater A is,

The velocity of skater A in the y-direction is,

The mass of skater B is,

The velocity of skater B in the x-direction is,

The mass of skater C is,

By using conservation of momentum,

For x-direction:

Substitute the values in equation (1)

For y-direction:

Substitute the values in equation (1)

Thus, the velocity of skater C in x and y direction is 3.91 m/s and 3.76 m/s.