Maria Daniella Villondo

11- Ezekiel

December 2, 2016
NS002

What are the Conservation Laws?

Conservation law, also called law of conservation, in physics, several principles
that state that certain physical properties (i.e., measurable quantities) do not change in
the course of time within an isolated physical system. In classical physics, laws of this
type govern energy, momentum,angular momentum, mass, and electric charge.
In particle physics, other conservation laws apply to properties of subatomic
particles that are invariant during interactions. An important function of conservation
laws is that they make it possible to predict the macroscopic behaviour of a system
without having to consider the microscopic details of the course of a physical process or
chemical reaction.
Conservation of energy implies that energy can be neither created nor
destroyed, although it can be changed from one form (mechanical, kinetic, chemical,
etc.) into another. In an isolated system the sum of all forms of energy therefore remains
constant. For example, a falling body has a constant amount of energy, but the form of
the energy changes from potential to kinetic. According to the theory of relativity, energy
and mass are equivalent. Thus, the rest mass of a body may be considered a form of
potential energy, part of which can be converted into other forms of energy.
Conservation of linear momentum expresses the fact that a body or system of
bodies in motion retains its total momentum, the product of mass and vector velocity,
unless an external force is applied to it. In an isolated system (such as the universe),
there are no external forces, so momentum is always conserved. Because momentum
is conserved, its components in any direction will also be conserved. Application of the
law of conservation of momentum is important in the solution of collision problems. The
operation of rockets exemplifies the conservation of momentum: the increased forward
momentum of the rocket is equal but opposite in sign to the momentum of the ejected
exhaust gases.
Conservation of angular momentum of rotating bodies is analogous to the
conservation of linear momentum. Angular momentum is a vector quantity whose
conservation expresses the law that a body or system that is rotating continues to rotate
at the same rate unless a twisting force, called a torque, is applied to it. The angular
momentum of each bit of matter consists of the product of its mass, its distance from the
axis of rotation, and the component of its velocity perpendicular to the line from the axis.
Conservation of mass implies that matter can be neither created nor destroyed
i.e., processes that change the physical or chemical properties of substances within
an isolated system (such as conversion of a liquid to a gas) leave the total mass
unchanged. Strictly speaking, mass is not a conserved quantity. However, except in
nuclear reactions, the conversion of rest mass into other forms of mass-energy is so
small that, to a high degree of precision, rest mass may be thought of as conserved.

Conservation of charge states that the total amount of electric charge in a

system does not change with time. At a subatomic level, charged particles can be
created, but always in pairs with equal positive and negative charge so that the total
amount of charge always remains constant.
In particle physics, other conservation laws apply to certain properties of nuclear
particles, such as baryon number, lepton number, and strangeness. Such laws apply in
addition to those of mass, energy, and momentum encountered in everyday life and
may be thought of as analogous to the conservation of electric charge. See
also symmetry.
The laws of conservation of energy, momentum, and angular momentum are all
derived from classical mechanics. Nevertheless, all remain true in quantum
mechanics and relativistic mechanics, which have replaced classical mechanics as the
most fundamental of all laws. In the deepest sense, the three conservation laws express
the facts, respectively, that physics does not change with passing time, with
displacement in space, or with rotation in space.
https://www.britannica.com/science/conservation-law
Why are the Conservation Laws in Physics important?

Index

Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

Collision
concepts

A perfectly elastic collision is defined as one in which there is no loss of kinetic energy in the
collision. An inelastic collision is one in which part of the kinetic energy is changed to some
other form of energy in the collision. Any macroscopic collision between objects will convert
some of the kinetic energy into internal energy and other forms of energy, so no large scale
impacts are perfectly elastic. Momentum is conserved in inelastic collisions, but one cannot
track the kinetic energy through the collision since some of it is converted to other forms of
energy. Collisions inideal gases approach perfectly elastic collisions, as
do scattering interactions of sub-atomic particles which are deflected by the electromagnetic
force. Some large-scale interactions like theslingshot type gravitational interactions between
satellites and planets are perfectly elastic.
Collisions between hard spheres may be nearly elastic, so it is useful to calculate the limiting
case of an elastic collision. The assumption of conservation of momentum as well as the
conservation of kinetic energy makes possible the calculation of the final velocities in twobody collisions.
Elastic collisions, target at
rest

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Elastic Collisions
An elastic collision is defined as one in which both conservation of momentum and
conservation ofkinetic energy are observed. This implies that there is no dissipative force
acting during the collision and that all of the kinetic energy of the objects before the collision
is still in the form of kinetic energy afterward.
For macroscopic objects which come into contact in a collision, there is always some
dissipation and they are never perfectly elastic. Collisions between hard steel balls as in
the swinging ballsapparatus are nearly elastic.

Index

"Collisions" in which the objects do not touch each other, such as Rutherford scattering or
theslingshot orbit of a satellite off a planet, are elastic collisions. In atomic or nuclear
scattering, the collisions are typically elastic because the repulsive Coulomb force keeps the
particles out of contact with each other.

Collision
concepts

Collisions in ideal gases are very nearly elastic, and this fact is used in the development of the
expressions for gas pressure in a container.
Elastic collisions, target at rest
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Standard examples, elastic collisions

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Swinging Balls
A popular demonstration of conservation of momentum and conservation of energy features several
polished steel balls hung in a straight line in contact with each other. If one is pulled back and allowed to
strike the line, one ball flies out the other end. If two balls are sent in, two come out, and so forth.

Now consider the possibility of one ball coming in and two balls coming out. It could conserve
momentum if they two balls coming out had half the speed of the single ball that came in. But it does not
happen in nature! Why not?

This is a good example of the power of using both conservation of momentum and conservation of
energy together to explain what happens in nature. Two balls out could conserve momentum, but only by
violating conservation of energy, so it does not happen.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/elacol.html