Question

Ships A and B are in deep, deep, deep space (nothing is around; neglect ALL gravity including in between the ships). They are both out of fuel and not moving. Ship A however still has a bit of power to use its tractor beam*. Ship A has a mass 30 times greater than Ship B. *If you don't know what a tractor beam is, imagine a rope As Ship A pulls on Ship B, which of the following is true? O A) A is immobile while B is moving towards it. B) B is immobile while A is moving towards it. C) FA on B = 30 FB on A (A exerts 30x more force on B than B exerts on A). OD) FB on A = 30 FA on B (B exerts 30x more force on A than A exerts on B). E) aa = 30 aB (A has an acceleration 30x the acceleration of B). F) ag = 30 am (B has an acceleration 30x the acceleration of A).

Answer 1

E. BA Tractor Beam AB Ship-B Mass =M Ship-A Mass = 30 M

When ship-A pulls ship-B using Tractor beam, There are equal and opposite forces F_AB and F_BA

F_AB = Force of A acting on B

F_BA = Force of B acting on B

F_AB = - F_BA

Both ships are moving towards each other due to the forces mentioned above , but acceleration of each ship will be different due to their different masses.

Since mass of Ship-B is (1/30) times mass of ship-A , Ship-B will move with acceleration 30 times greater than acceleration of ship-A.