Question

"A rocket with mass 1200kg reaches a speed of 300m/s when an explosion breaks it up into two parts with equal mass, and their speeds have a 25m/s difference. What are the speeds and how much energy is released?" Show all work. Thanks!

Answer 1

There is no net force acting on the system so the total momentum is the same before and after.
m v before = 1200 * 300
m v after = 600 * v + 600 * (v+25)