Two skaters, each of mass M are standing a slight distance apart on a nearly frictionless horizontal surface of ice (for example, a skating rink). Initially at rest, they throw a ball of mass m, back and forth between them. Each time, the ball has a speed of v (assume it travels horizontally).
a. What is the velocity of the first skater immediately after she throws the ball for the first time?
b. What is the velocity of the second skater, immediately after she catches the ball.
c. Just after the second skater throws the ball back, for the first time, what is her velocity?
d. After the ball has made 10 complete round trips, and the first skater is holding the ball, what is the velocity of each skater? What is the total momentum of the system of the two skaters and the ball?