Question

You are frozen to an icy lake surface that is otherwise very slippery. A skunk is sliding towards you at a speed of 0.1m/s. Your only chance to avoid misfortune is to slide a bundle of nuts and berries towards the skunk that it will catch and eat. If the bundle has half the mass of the skunk, determine the minimal speed at which you have to slide it such that the skunk in fact never reaches you. Submit your answer in the following form:
• List only the equation numbers relevant for this problem.

• Give your numerical answer for the minimal required speed.

Answer 1

mass of bundle = m

mass of skunk = 2m

initial velocity of skunk = v1 = 0.1 m/s.

initial velocity of bundle = v2 = ? (thrown opposite to the direction of motion of skunk)

the minimum value of v2 is such that, the skunk never reaches is possible when the skunk stops.

And this becomes the case of perfectly ineleastic collision of bundle and skunk.

which means, the initial momentum of bundle should be equal and in opposite direction to that of skunk.

Therefore from conservation of linear momentum of system (skunk + bundle) :

-------(i)

=>

=> = 2 x 0.1 = 0.2 m/s [answer]