2006-07-07 16:25:37 · 7 answers · asked by jeffcogs 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Two people (Ronin and Iddius) gave very good answers. I already know much of the math behind momentum (the "how"); the question is *why* the law of conservation of momentum even occurs. In fact, this was a bit of a trick question because I already know that science has not yet been able to tell us the "why" of momentum, or the "why" of several other things. Feyman said it well in his lecture on gravity:
"The law of conservation of energy is a theorem concerning quantities that have to be calculated and added together, with no mention of the machinery, and likewise the great laws of mechanics are quantitative mathematical laws for which no machinery is available."
I was curious what kind of creative answers I'd get. Thanks everybody!
2006-07-11 03:57:21 · update #1
I would say it's b/c 2 particles can't occupy the same space so they must interact in some way. Since they are "solid" they impart their energy instead of absorbing it.
But in a fundamental sense, the answer is that science doesn't answer "why" only how. The why is impossible for science to answer except to say that this is the way our universe is constructed.
2006-07-07 16:29:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
oh, very good question! and the answer is: we don't really know why. We can describe it very well down to the level of elementary particles, but the explanation of WHY momentum is conserved is still not known for sure. Understanding why momentum is conserved goes along with our lack of understanding of what causes gravity and intertia--they are all related--and they are actually probably all the same phenomenon when it comes down to it.
Several other people who have responded to this are confusing the words "why" and "how". The Law of conservation of linear moentum tells us how momentum is conserved. It's a simple classical expression. The topic of this question concerns WHY momentum is conserved.
2006-07-07 16:33:58 · answer #2 · answered by idiuss 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all why do objects have momentum?
It is because momentum is mass times the velocity; and objects, having mass and speed have momentum.
The momentum of objects can be changed only by external force.
When two bodies collide, one is exerting a force on the other.
By Newton’s third law, “The force exerted by one body on the other is equal but opposite to the force exerted by the other body on the first body”.
But force is the ‘rate of change in momentum’. Therefore, the change in momentum in one body is equal in magnitude to the change in momentum in the other body, the time of contact of the two bodies being equal.
Or the total momentum is conserved.
2006-07-07 23:32:59 · answer #3 · answered by Pearlsawme 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You replied your own question. In actual organic ecosystem , potential is lost via' sound, vibration, friction etc. in case you replace those decrease back into potential of stream, all of it promises up equivalent to the total potential purely in the previous it collides. that is for this reason conserved. ordinary clinical experiments you do in college do no longer take many variables into interest with the intention to make our lives easier.
2016-11-06 01:03:32 · answer #4 · answered by weberg 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
simply becoz of z law of conservation of momentum which states zat total linear momentum is always conserved in a system of colliding or interacting bodies!
2006-07-07 22:17:55 · answer #5 · answered by honey 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
compare it to sex 1 feeds off the other lol , ok ok maybe bad example
2006-07-07 16:28:43 · answer #6 · answered by jojo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
um...physics?
2006-07-07 16:27:02 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋