Two students stand at rest, facing each other on frictionless skates. They then start tossing a heavy ball back and forth between them. Describe their subsequent motion?

The students will move away from each other as explained by Newton’s Third Law which states that “To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” If the students are on frictionless skates, their action of throwing the ball will propel them in the opposite direction. Once the motion is initiated, they continue to move away from each other unless stopped by another force.

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AkshayG AkshayG · Answer 2 · 2019-10-21T13:08:22+02:00

1) Each time the student throws the ball to this friend, he gains the momentum in the opposite/backward direction.

2) Each time the student catches the ball, he gains momentum in the same direction as of ball and away from his friend.

3) Students will throw the ball towards each other until they are too much far away from one another.

Further Explanation:

Part (1):

According to the Newton’s third law of motion, every action has equal and opposite reaction. When the student standing on a frictionless skate, throws a ball towards his friend, he does an action in the forward direction.

Due to the action of the student on the ball in the forward direction, the reaction will be experienced by the student in the direction opposite to the motion of the ball. Thus, the student gains some momentum in the backward direction.

Part (2):

Now as the ball reaches the student on the other side, the ball is caught by the student by doing some action in the opposite direction of the ball to stop it. Then he will experience a reaction from the ball and this reaction will be directed in the same direction as of the motion of the ball.

Due to this reaction, the student will move further away from his friend. Thus, each time the student catches the ball, he gains momentum in the direction same as the motion of the ball and moves away from his friend.

Part (3):

Since the skates are frictionless and each time the students throw the ball and catch it, they gain a momentum in the direction away from one another and due to this reaction, they will continue to move away from each other. Once they are too far from one another, they will not be able to throw the ball towards one another.

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Answer Details:

Grade: High School

Subject: Physics

Chapter: Force and Momentum

Keywords: Two students, frictionless skates, start tossing, heavy ball, back and forth, subsequent motion, catches the ball, opposite direction, momentum, action, reaction.