Assignment:
The lead female character in a movie is standing at the edge of an offshore oil rig. As she fires a gun, she is driven back over the edge and into the sea. Suppose the mass of a bullet is 0.010 kg and its velocity is 720 m/s. Her mass (including the gun) is 51 kg.
(a) What recoil velocity does she acquire in response to a single shot from a stationary position, assuming that no external force keeps her in place?
(b) Under the same assumption, what would be her recoil velocity if, instead, she shoots a blanks cartridge that ejects a mass of 5.0 x 10^-4 kg at a velocity of 720 m/s?