From: Nathania Chaney Aiello (nathania@home.com)
Date: Fri Nov 17 2000 - 06:12:59 PST
Message-ID: <3A153BBC.BF2853F0@home.com> Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 06:12:59 -0800 From: Nathania Chaney Aiello <nathania@home.com> Subject: Re: pinhole conservation of momentum vs energy
Steve, thanks but the problem is not that she doesn't get conservation
of energy-that's fine. She has no problem that KE can be transformed
into heat, sound, PE, etc. The problem is why is MOMENTUM conserved?
there is only one kind of momentum (the object has to be moving) so if
some of the KE changes form (ie either mass or velocity decreases) why
doesn't total momentum decrease as there is no "potential momentum"
Thanks
Nathania
Nathania, I would start with an example like clay blobs of equal mass
and
opposite velocity smacking together and coming to absolute rest, stuck
together. where has the kinetic energy gone? It is mostly still there,
but in individual molecules as they move quicker within the clay giving
it
a warmer temperature. This is a start only, and potentially misleading.
Energy is shifted from one form to another. Light a match. Chemical
energy is converted into randomized kinetic energy, start a car -
chemical
energy into non-random translational kinetic energy. Power plants, etc.
Eiger
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