what does conservation of momentum mean? please explain thoroughly because i am really bad at science T-T. THANK YOU!!!
2006-12-18 16:05:08 · 5 answers · asked by Orange? 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
As Pirate stated, momentum is mass * velocity, and conservation of momentum means that the total momentum in a system stays constant. What does that mean? Here are two examples of how you can use conservation of momentum in physics problems.
Suppose that you have an object sitting still. Its momentum is 0, because its velocity is 0. Suddenly it breaks in two, and the pieces fly apart. (I know that sounds unrealistic, but it could happen. Maybe it was always two pieces, held together by a rubber band that just broke, and there was a spring in between them. Anyway...) If one of the pieces weighs six pounds and is moving at 10 feet per second, the momentum of that piece is 60 foot-pounds per second. So the momentum of the other piece must be 60 foot-pounds per second in the opposite direction, to conserve the total momentum. If that piece weighs 3 pounds, for instance, it would have to be travelling 20 feet per second.
Or suppose you had two objects collide and stick together. You can calculate each one's momentum before the collision, add them together, and that's their momentum after the collision. If the two pieces from the last example collided, each travelling 30 feet per second towards each other, then the momentum of the heavier one would be 180 foot-pounds per second and the lighter one's would be 90 foot-pounds per second in the opposite direction. Add them together and you get 90 foot-pounds per second in the direction the larger object is travelling. After they collide, they fuse together to make a larger object which weighs 9 pounds, so it must be travelling at 10 feet per second in the direction the 6-pound object was going.
2006-12-18 16:26:15 · answer #1 · answered by Amy F 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The conservation of momentum is a fundamental concept of physics along with the conservation of energy and the conservation of mass. Momentum is defined to be the mass of an object multiplied by the velocity of the object. The conservation of momentum states that, within some problem domain, the amount of momentum remains constant; momentum is neither created nor destroyed, but only changed through the action of forces as described by Newton's laws of motion....
You should seriously consider spending time researching it yourself. There's a lot more to it... I just gave you the basic answer.
2006-12-19 00:10:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Simply put it means that momentum, the force of moving things and a form of inertia, cannot ever go away. It can be transfered, however, such as when the cue ball is hit into other pool balls and they start moving, or dominoes falling on eachother.
2006-12-19 00:24:16 · answer #3 · answered by blakerboy777 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the conservation of momentum is rather interesting.it stats that no momentum is ever lost or ever gained.if you shoot a gun,their is recoil [equal but opposite momentum].this is true fore any motion if you think about it.it also implies that the total momentum of the universe never changes
2006-12-19 11:32:10 · answer #4 · answered by the professor 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dunno
2006-12-19 00:12:56 · answer #5 · answered by bigbruth 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋