conservation of momentum?

Patrica Loertscher: the total linear momentum of an isolated system remains constant in size/magnitude and direction

Dalila Yoon: no here the momentum in the hero's hand must be considered, it has a momentum,the villain will be thrown with that momentum if the hero remains fully stationary after throwingif the hero had remained fully stationary without moving a muscle when throwing, then the answer is yes, then the hero must be using his wand and saying expeliamus like in harry potter ha ha...Show more

Clinton Migliori: hmm. in the same context i don't think it is any different to someone throwing a tennis ball and remaining stationery. i don't think it violates the conservation of momentum, however it would be hard to prove it eg. through a free body diagram

Coleen Carignan: Yeah it definitely violates CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM.Super hero must also get a jerk backward..May be superhero would have pressed the ground hard to increase the normal reaction so! frictional force increased and Our Superhero stands steady..:-P

Virgil Loatman: You can argue yes and no.The superhero should have had an equal and opposite momentum to the villain. It's like a firing a gun the bullet goes forwards and the gun recoils backwards. If the superhero is free to move (no friction between shoes and ground) then he/she should be thrown backwards.However if the superhero is firmly attached to the earth (with superfriction shoes) , then the forwards momentum of the villain equals the backwards momentum of the whole earth.This is like throwing a ball while standing. the ball goes forwards and this makes the whole earth move backwards, to conserve momentum - but it's an impossibly small amount to measure....Show more

Shawnna Kusky: Superhero Stationary