D
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As a hot-air balloon ascends upward at a constant speed, a package is dropped out of the balloon. At the instant the package is released, the momentum of the balloon:
A.) increases
B.) decreases
C.) is unaffected because the force does not change
D.) is unaffected because the decrease in mass is compensated by an increase in velocity
The answer is A.
I couldn't choose an answer because: p=mv, so how do we know if the change in speed is large enough to offset the loss in mass? Or since the question says "instant", I can think of the mass decreasing the instant the package is dropped but it'll take some time for the velocity to increase enough to offset the loss of mass (although the the amount of mass loss is nowhere mentioned). Therefore, by that logic, the momentum should decrease (B).
A.) increases
B.) decreases
C.) is unaffected because the force does not change
D.) is unaffected because the decrease in mass is compensated by an increase in velocity
The answer is A.
I couldn't choose an answer because: p=mv, so how do we know if the change in speed is large enough to offset the loss in mass? Or since the question says "instant", I can think of the mass decreasing the instant the package is dropped but it'll take some time for the velocity to increase enough to offset the loss of mass (although the the amount of mass loss is nowhere mentioned). Therefore, by that logic, the momentum should decrease (B).