Question

Two friends on roller skates are standing $5m$ apart facing each other. One of them throws a ball of $2Kg$ towards the other, who catches it, How will this activity affect the position of the two? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

To find how it affects the position of the two friends.

1. Before throwing the ball, the momentum of both of them will be zero.
2. To conserve the momentum, the person who throws the ball moves backward.
3. The person who catches the ball experiences a net force while catching the ball and he moves backward.

Therefore the distance between them will increase.