Momentum of a body is the quantity of motion possessed by the body. It depends on the mass of the body and the velocity with which it moves.
When a bullet is fired by a gun, it can easily pierce human tissue before coming to rest resulting in casualty. The same bullet fired with moderate speed will not cause much damage. The greater the change in momentum in a given time, the greater is the force that needs to be applied.
The second law of motion refers to the general situation, where there is a net external force rating on the body.
A satellite in force-free space sweeps stationary interplanetary dust at a rate `(dM)/(dt)=alphav`, where `M` is the mass, `v` is the velocity of satellite and `alpha` is a constant. What is the deceleration of the satellite?
Options:
(a) `(-2alphav^2)/M`
(b) `(-alphav^2)/M`
(c) `-alphav^2`
(d) `(alphav^2)/M`