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Physics Tutorial 6.7 - Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy

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There are 3 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy. The tutorial starts with an introduction to Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy and is then followed with a list of the separate lessons, the tutorial is designed to be read in order but you can skip to a specific lesson or return to recover a specific physics lesson as required to build your physics knowledge of Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy. you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.

In this Physics tutorial, you will learn:

  • What is the Law of Conservation of Momentum?
  • In which situations the Law of Conservation of Momentum is applied?
  • The meaning of the Law of Kinetic Energy Conservation
  • What are the limitations of the Law of Kinetic Energy Conservation?
  • How to use the Laws of Conservation in calculating any missing velocity or mass

Introduction

In the previous tutorial "Collision and Impulse", we stated that in absolutely elastic collisions, immediately after the impact occurs, an object has the same kinetic energy as it had before the collision. However, this does not seem the case in other types of collision. The reason of this inconsistency will be explained in this tutorial.

Also, we will see what happens with momentum in such cases. Does it remains numerically unchanged (is it conserved) or not?

Let's have a deeper look at such events to answer the above questions.

Please select a specific "Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy" lesson from the table below, review the video tutorial, print the revision notes or use the practice question to improve your knowledge of this physics topic.

Centre of Mass and Linear Momentum Learning Material
Tutorial IDPhysics Tutorial TitleTutorialVideo
Tutorial
Revision
Notes
Revision
Questions
6.7Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy
Lesson IDPhysics Lesson TitleLessonVideo
Lesson
6.7.1Conservation of Momentum in Elastic Collisions
6.7.2Conservation of Momentum in Inelastic Collisions
6.7.3Conservation of Kinetic Energy in Collisions

Whats next?

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  2. Centre of Mass and Linear Momentum Revision Notes: Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy. Print the notes so you can revise the key points covered in the physics tutorial for Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy
  3. Centre of Mass and Linear Momentum Practice Questions: Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy. Test and improve your knowledge of Law of Conservation of Momentum and Kinetic Energy with example questins and answers
  4. Check your calculations for Centre of Mass and Linear Momentum questions with our excellent Centre of Mass and Linear Momentum calculators which contain full equations and calculations clearly displayed line by line. See the Centre of Mass and Linear Momentum Calculators by iCalculator™ below.
  5. Continuing learning centre of mass and linear momentum - read our next physics tutorial: Momentum and Impulse in Two Dimensions. Explosions.

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