11 votes

Does a small domino toppling a large domino violate conservation of energy?

Every domino has potential energy (from being put upright) that is used (converted to kinetic) when it falls. A finger pushing a small one gets added energy from each increasing domino's potential ...
user14094230's user avatar
9 votes

What happens to left-over energy in atomic excitations?

My question then is, what happens if there is energy for, say 2.5 jumps. The electron should jump up two energy levels, but what happens to the 0.5 "jumps" worth of energy? A photon with ...
Dale's user avatar
  • 91.9k
4 votes
Accepted

Does changing the height where an object is placed contradict the Law of Conservation of Energy?

When you lift a box from the floor and put it on an almirah the potential energy of the box increases, but there is no change in its kinetic energy. Is it a violation of conservation of energy? I ...
Dale's user avatar
  • 91.9k
4 votes
Accepted

Minus sign in Force potential relation, a convention?

The usual defination of force in terms of potential energy is $$\vec F=-\nabla U$$ ...However the minus sign over here seems just a convention Yes. It is a convention. But it is a long-established ...
hft's user avatar
  • 15.7k
3 votes

Minus sign in Force potential relation, a convention?

Consider this example of some field potential energy profile : Field's potential energy gradient at particular point is a vector which points to zones with higher potential energy (by definition of ...
Agnius Vasiliauskas's user avatar
3 votes

How does gravitational potential energy work in a very large distance?

The gravitational potential energy is stored in the asteroid and planet system. Turning the asteroid round makes absolutely no difference to the gravitational potential energy stored by the system as ...
Farcher's user avatar
  • 91.9k
2 votes

Does the integral of the vis-viva equation have any meaning?

Given any $v(r)$, the integral over space can be transformed as follows, $$\int v\,\mathrm{d}r=\int v\,\frac{\mathrm{d}r}{\mathrm{d}t}\mathrm{d}t=\int v^2\,\mathrm{d}t.$$ Recalling that kinetic energy ...
Kyle Kanos's user avatar
  • 27.7k
2 votes

Can anyone explain me why this chain does not move?

In a gravitational field, things fall downward under the force of gravity. As they do so, they convert gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy. If we put the chain in place and it ...
Nuclear Hoagie's user avatar
2 votes

Twin paradox - how much energy does it take to travel to the future?

Energy is a frame-variant quantity, while the difference in the age between the two twins is an invariant quantity. An invariant quantity cannot be a function of only a frame-variant quantity, so ...
Dale's user avatar
  • 91.9k
1 vote

How does gravitational potential energy work in a very large distance?

But when we change the direction of the asteroid slightly towards the planet, we create a situation where the mechanical energy becomes very large and negative Why do you think this? The total ...
BowlOfRed's user avatar
  • 38k
1 vote

How does gravitational potential energy work in a very large distance?

The short answer is that the potential energy of gravity (as any other kind of potential energy) is only defined up to an additive constant. In the case of gravitational attraction, it is a very ...
Lorenzo Pompili's user avatar
1 vote

Does the integral of the vis-viva equation have any meaning?

$$\oint v_r \mathrm dr,$$ i.e. the radial component of the velocity integrated around a radial orbit, is a useful quantity, sometimes called the radial action. For example, it is an adiabatic ...
Sten's user avatar
  • 2,648
1 vote

Minus sign in Force potential relation, a convention?

We want to uphold the convention that the potential energy is defined such that: $$U(r)= -\int_{\infty}^{r} \vec{F} \cdot \vec{dr}$$ This convention implies that; $$\vec{F} = -\nabla U$$ To see this, ...
jensen paull's user avatar
  • 6,311
1 vote

Can a black hole absorb vacuum energy?

Vacuum energy is a concept from quantum field theory, wherein even the "empty" vacuum of space is subject to fluctuations due to the inherent uncertainty in the properties of quantum fields. ...
JQK's user avatar
  • 1,356
1 vote
Accepted

Energy transferred to velocity with and without changing reference frames

The amount of energy in the battery available to alter the masses speed IS frame dependent. A joule applied to a slower moving mass has a greater effect on the speed of that mass than when it’s at a ...
1 vote

Energy transferred to velocity with and without changing reference frames

You have explained what is observed in the original frame, all the fuel is burnt and the velocity of the rocket relative to that frame, starting from rest, is $10 \,\rm m/s$ to the right. Now consider ...
Farcher's user avatar
  • 91.9k
1 vote

Does a small domino toppling a large domino violate conservation of energy?

Energy should always be considered between two points in time with a fixed reference point. So, first, let's consider before any pushing has occurred and all the dominoes are standing up in order of ...
18th Shard's user avatar
1 vote

How can mechanical energy be preserved if the potential energy is negative?

Thus, the potential energy will be negative, but the kinetic energy cannot be negative. The potential energy will be negative relative to a point an infinite distance away from the Earth where the ...
Bob D's user avatar
  • 67.5k
1 vote

Minus sign in Force potential relation, a convention?

Various times that I have tutored physics (way in the past) I use a math analogy to convince someone that the force MUST be the negative of the gradient of the potential function. No conventions need ...
K7PEH's user avatar
  • 1,567
1 vote

Why is angular momentum and energy conserved in a lever but momentum is not? Why the apparently unequal treatment?

Why is angular momentum conserved in general? You may know that conservation laws come from symmetries of the Lagrangian. The Lagrangian is symmetric under space translation? The system will conserve ...
Prallax's user avatar
  • 2,829
1 vote

If mass can be converted to energy then how is it said that energy can't be created?

isn't it the conversion of gravitational energy stored with mass to other forms, so energy is conserved. (I'm not a physicist just studied physics till grade 12)
Puneet's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote

What happens to half of the energy in a circuit with a capacitor?

I'll answer this Faradian style, without formulæ or integrals. The question makes a false premise. The battery does not keep a constant voltage. Rather, it "seeks" to keep a constant voltage ...
Reuven Feinberg's user avatar

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