My 14 year old niece and I were discussing this topic and we both came to different conclusions, but we’re really curious as to what would happen here. I hope my question makes sense. In summary, would the astronauts go flying apart or would they stay in the same spot? Excited to know the answer from some experts!
Comments
Yes, they could push off each other to get to opposite sides of the room. What would stay at the same spot is the center of mass of the two astronauts. If they were both in the middle of the room, they would move in such a way that the center of mass stays in the middle of the room. So, for instance, if one was twice as “heavy” (really, you can’t be heavy in zero g, but twice as much mass) as the other, the lighter one would always be twice as far away from the center as the other (obviously, they could both reach the wall, because once you reach the wall, you can’t apply a simple conservation of momentum anymore, but you know).