Question

A 30kg student pushes a 20kg box on a frictionless surface. If student accelerates at 0.80 m/s^2, what is acceleration of the box. My question is why does the box accelerate in opposite direction of the boy, and how does the frictionless surface affect this question?

Answers

The total momentum must be conserved. If the boy slides away to the left, the box must move to the right, since momentum is a vector quantity.
thanks, why does total momentum need to be conserved?
The question says (remember newton's third law), so how does that come in to play, if u push a box shouldnt it just move in the direction u push it in. why does it accelerate in opposite direction of student
Thanks!!! :D

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