E-Book Content
Conservation Laws Benjamin Crowell Book 2 in the Light and Matter series of introductory physics textbooks www.lightandmatter.com Conservation Laws The Light and Matter series of introductory physics textbooks: 1 Newtonian Physics 2 Conservation Laws 3 Vibrations and Waves 4 Electricity and Magnetism 5 Optics 6 The Modern Revolution in Physics Conservation Laws Benjamin Crowell www.lightandmatter.com Light and Matter www.lightandmatter.com © 1998 by Benjamin Crowell All rights reserved. Edition 2.0 — 2000 rev. 2000-08-13 To Uri Haber-Schaim, John Dodge, Robert Gardner, and Edward Shore. Brief Contents 1 Conservation of Energy 13 2 Simplifying the Energy Zoo 27 3 Work: The Transfer of Mechanical Energy 39 4 Conservation of Momentum 61 5 Conservation of Angular Momentum 85 Solutions to Selected Problems 109 Glossary 111 Index 113 9 Contents 1 Conservation of Energy 13 1.1 The Search for a Perpetual Motion Machine .................................................. 13 1.2 Energy ................................................. 14 1.3 A Numerical Scale of Energy ............... 16 1.4 Kinetic Energy ..................................... 20 1.5 Power .................................................. 23 Summary ...................................................... 25 3 2 Simplifying the Energy Zoo 27 2.1 Heat is Kinetic Energy ......................... 2.2 Potential Energy: Energy of Distance or Closeness ................ 2.3 All Energy is Potential or Kinetic .......... Summary ...................................................... Homework Problems .................................... 10 28 30 34 36 37 Work: The Transfer of Mechanical