Summary
Conservation Laws are the most powerful laws of physics
- Important conclusions with no details
- We considered them in the context of Newton’s laws
- Really more general. These will still apply in the new revolutions of physics
Conservation of Momentum (Vector)
- For an isolated system (no external forces) the momentum is conserved , i.e., the magnitude and direction never changes!
Conservation of Energy
- Energy comes in many forms. One form can be converted into another, but the total never changes!
- Can apply to an isolated system
- If system is not isolated, the change of energy exactly equals the energy added from the rest of the world (e.g. work)
- No free lunch!