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Why we should conserve momentum? Please explain in simple manner.what is the need to conserve momentum
Why we should conserve momentum? Please explain in simple manner.what is the need to conserve momentum
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Solution
Conservation of momentum is a fundamental law of physics which states that the momentum of a system is constant if there are no external forces acting on the system. It is embodied in Newton's first law (the law of inertia).
A useful analogy for understanding momentum conservation involves a money transaction between two people. Let's refer to the two people as Jack and Jill. Suppose that we were to check the pockets of Jack and Jill before and after the money transaction in order to determine the amount of money that each possesses. Prior to the transaction, Jack possesses 100andJillpossesses100. The total amount of money of the two people before the transaction is 200.Duringthetransaction,JackpaysJill50 for the given item being bought. There is a transfer of 50fromJack′spockettoJill′spocket.Jackhaslost50 and Jill has gained 50.ThemoneylostbyJackisequaltothemoneygainedbyJill.Afterthetransaction,Jacknowhas50 in his pocket and Jill has 150inherpocket.Yet,thetotalamountofmoneyofthetwopeopleafterthetransactionis200. The total amount of money (Jack's money plus Jill's money) before the transaction is equal to the total amount of money after the transaction. It could be said that the total amount of money of the system (the collection of two people) is conserved. It is the same before as it is after the transaction.
An important function and the needs 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.
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.
A useful analogy for understanding momentum conservation involves a money transaction between two people. Let's refer to the two people as Jack and Jill. Suppose that we were to check the pockets of Jack and Jill before and after the money transaction in order to determine the amount of money that each possesses. Prior to the transaction, Jack possesses 100andJillpossesses100. The total amount of money of the two people before the transaction is 200.Duringthetransaction,JackpaysJill50 for the given item being bought. There is a transfer of 50fromJack′spockettoJill′spocket.Jackhaslost50 and Jill has gained 50.ThemoneylostbyJackisequaltothemoneygainedbyJill.Afterthetransaction,Jacknowhas50 in his pocket and Jill has 150inherpocket.Yet,thetotalamountofmoneyofthetwopeopleafterthetransactionis200. The total amount of money (Jack's money plus Jill's money) before the transaction is equal to the total amount of money after the transaction. It could be said that the total amount of money of the system (the collection of two people) is conserved. It is the same before as it is after the transaction.
An important function and the needs 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.
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.
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