Category Archives: Energy and Momentum

ENERGY AND MOMENTUM: Conservation of Energy, Linear Momentum, and Angular Momentum During a Collision

1. Momentum is always conserved when collisions occur. Momentum is defined as being a quantity of motion, and it is a product of mass and velocity. A small object travelling with a high velocity has great momentum ( Ex. A bullet ), and a massive object travelling with a low velocity has great momentum (Continue reading “ENERGY AND MOMENTUM: Conservation of Energy, Linear Momentum, and Angular Momentum During a Collision”

GAS LAWS: Boltzmann Constant Derivation

An ideal gas is a gas that behaves as if the only significant interactions between its atoms occurs during elastic collisions. Under ideal conditions, intramolecular force interactions due to charged particles, as well as systemic losses due to entropy, are ignored. In addition to these subatomic interactions occurring within a specified quantity of space, thereContinue reading “GAS LAWS: Boltzmann Constant Derivation”

ENERGY AND MOMENTUM: The Potential Energy of a Pendulum

Q: A pendulum of unknown mass ( m ) is rotated through an angle ( θ ) until it is vertically displaced by a distance ( Δh ). As a consequence, it has a gain in potential energy ( PE ) within the gravitational field that is directly proportional to its vertical displacement. If theContinue reading “ENERGY AND MOMENTUM: The Potential Energy of a Pendulum”

ENERGY AND MOMENTUM: Translational and Rotational Kinetic Energy

When determining the final kinetic energy ( KE ) of falling objects, we need not ( in theory ) concern ourselves with anything other than the linear pathway traveled to the earth’s surface. To the contrary, an object that rolls top to bottom down an incline will gain both linear ( KE ) and rotationalContinue reading “ENERGY AND MOMENTUM: Translational and Rotational Kinetic Energy”

FLUIDS: Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy, Momentum, and Torricelli’s Theorem

Q: A 0.2 m container is full of a fluid of unknown density ( ρ ). A spigot at the bottom of the container is opened to allow fluid to flow at an unknown velocity ( v ) onto the ground. With what velocity will the fluid flow through the spigot? A: In a separateContinue reading “FLUIDS: Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy, Momentum, and Torricelli’s Theorem”

SOLIDS: The Potential Energy of a Spring

An unbalanced force that influences the motion of an object will cause it to experience an acceleration ( a ). If such an object is opposed by some equal and opposite force ( F ), it will move with a constant velocity ( v ). Maintenance of this type of motion requires energy ( JContinue reading “SOLIDS: The Potential Energy of a Spring”

DO LIVING THINGS EXIST IN A TAUTOMERIZED STATE???

What do DNA and RNA molecules, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and the side chains of other importance organic molecules have in common??? In solution, these molecules rapidly fluctuate between one structure to another similar one, then back. The relationship between tautomeric states, however, need not be 1 to 1. Organic molecules contain a great diversity ofContinue reading “DO LIVING THINGS EXIST IN A TAUTOMERIZED STATE???“

INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONICS: Electron Volts vs. Kilowatt Hours ( Part 2 )

A previous mathematical derivation was used to determine that an electron volt ( eV ) is a quantity of energy carried by an electron that accelerates through an electric field. We will now see that the kilowatt-hour ( kWh ) is also a unit of energy; it is a quantum of energy carried by aContinue reading “INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONICS: Electron Volts vs. Kilowatt Hours ( Part 2 )“

INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONICS: Energy and Power ( Part 2 )

Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a body that sits still or moves with a constant velocity with respect to a motionless observer will have its status unaltered until acted upon by an unbalanced force. Such a change in motion is accompanied by an acceleration, which is a change of velocity of an object:Continue reading “INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONICS: Energy and Power ( Part 2 )”