Question

You find yourself in the middle of a frozen lake with a surface so slippery $\left({\mathrm{\mu }}_{\mathrm{s}}={\mathrm{\mu }}_{\mathrm{k}}=0\right)$ you cannot walk. However, you happen to have several rocks in your pocket. The ice is extremely hard. It cannot be chipped, and the rocks slip on it just as much as your feet do. Can you think of a way to get to shore$?$Use pictures, forces, and Newton's laws to explain your reasoning.

Short answer

Way to get to shore by throwing a shore horizontally.

Step-by-step solution

Free body diagram

Explanation

If you hurl the rocks in the opposite direction of where you want to go, you will be pushed in the right way by the rocks.

The rocks must be accelerated in order to be thrown (Newton's second law).

As a result, one exerts a force in one direction on the rock, and the rock exerts an equal force in the opposite direction on that person (Newton's third law).

This force will lead that person to slide across the ice in the opposite direction in which the rock was thrown.

It's worth noting that the individual will travel the fastest if he or she employs a horizontal force, which means throwing the rock horizontally.