An amateur skater of mass M is trapped in the middle of an ice rink and is unabl

Question

An amateur skater of mass M is trapped in the middle of an ice rink and is unable to return to the side where there is no ice. Every motion she makes causes her to slip on the ice and remain in the same spot. She decides to try to return to safety by throwing her gloves of mass m in the direction opposite the safe side.

If she does move, calculate her velocity girl relative to the Earth after she throws the gloves, otherwise enter 0. (Use the following as necessary: m, M, and gloves).

My answer: vgirl= -m/M * vgloves. It's wrong.

Explanation / Answer

change in momentum = final momentum - initial momentum initial momentum = 0 => final momentum = 0 m girl*v girl + (2*m glove* v glove) = 0 (as there are 2 gloves in two hands) => v girl = -(2*m glove* v glove)/m girl (ans)

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