An astronaut in her suit has a mass of 185 kg. The astronaut is using a 4 kg toolkit to repair a solar panel on the International Space Station. While repairing the panel, the tether (rope)
connecting the astronaut to the space station breaks causing the astronaut to float away while
still holding her toolkit. The astronaut and toolkit float away at a constant velocity of -0.4 m/s.
9. Is the magnitude of the toolkit's momentum greater than, less than or equal to the
momentum of the astronaut?
A. Less than because the toolkit has a smaller mass than the astronaut
B. Greater than because the toolkit has more velocity than the astronaut
C. Equal to because momentum is conserved
D. Not enough information to determine
10. If the astronaut was to throw the toolkit away, would the total momentum in the
astronaut-toolkit system increase, decrease, or remain the same?
A. Increase than because the astronaut and the toolkit will continue moving
B. Decrease because the astronaut-toolkit system was moving in the negative
direction
C. Remain the same because momentum is conserved
D. Not enough information to determine