Question

a spaceship far from all other objects uses its impulse power system to attain a speed of 10⁴ m/s. the crew then shuts off the... according to newton’s first law, what will happen to the motion of the spaceship from then on? (select all that apply:) the spaceship will gradually slow down. the spaceship will move in a straight line. the spaceship will travel on a curving path. the speed of the spaceship will not change. the spaceship will enter a circular orbit. the spaceship will stop suddenly.

Explanation:

Newton's first law (law of inertia) states that an object in motion will stay in motion with a constant velocity (constant speed and direction) unless acted upon by a net external force. In deep space, far from other objects, there are no significant external forces (like friction, gravity from nearby objects) acting on the spaceship after the impulse power is shut off.

• "The spaceship will gradually slow down" is incorrect because there's no force to cause deceleration.
• "The spaceship will move in a straight line" is correct because without a net force, the direction (and speed) remains constant, so it moves in a straight line (constant velocity motion).
• "The spaceship will travel on a curving path" is incorrect because a curving path requires a net force (to change direction, like centripetal force), and there's no such force here.
• "The speed of the spaceship will not change" is correct because no net force means no acceleration (change in speed or direction), so speed remains constant.
• "The spaceship will enter a circular orbit" is incorrect because a circular orbit requires a centripetal force (from gravity, for example), and there's no such force in deep space far from other objects.
• "The spaceship will stop suddenly" is incorrect because stopping suddenly would require a large force to decelerate it to rest, and there's no such force.

Answer:

The options that apply are:

• The spaceship will move in a straight line.
• The speed of the spaceship will not change.