A 125 kg flatbottomed boat is floating along at 5.0 m/s, headed east. Sally Sue, standing at one end of the boat, starts to walk at 2.0 m/s, also to the east. If Sally’s mass is 65 kg, what is the speed of the boat as she walks along?

User Icon for Ajayb Ajayb answered
12 years ago

Initial momentum of boat+Sally system is=(125+65)*5= 190*5=950 Kg m/s

Sally's speed is 2.0m/s relative to boat i.e. w.r.t.a stationary observer it is (2+V)m/s where V is the speed of the boat when Sally walks.

Since there is no external force acting on our system, the linear momentum shall be conserved. Hence,
950=125*V+65*(2+V)= 190*V+130
V= (950-130)/190 =820/190=4.3 m/s