Physics 9702 · AS & A Level · Linear momentum and its conservation

Linear momentum and its conservation — practice question

Rosetta, a space probe, was built to study a comet. It had two parts: an orbiter and a lander. The orbiter’s mass was $170\,\text{kg}$ and the lander’s mass was $100\,\text{kg}$. During separation, the lander was driven towards the comet’s surface, giving it a change in velocity towards the comet of $3.0\,\text{m s}^{-1}$. Treat the orbiter and lander as an isolated system. As the separation occurred, the orbiter moved away from the comet. What change in speed did the orbiter have?

  • A1.8\,\text{m s}^{-1}
  • B2.3\,\text{m s}^{-1}
  • C3.0\,\text{m s}^{-1}
  • D5.1\,\text{m s}^{-1}

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