Answer to Question #142703 in Mechanics | Relativity for Mac Roy

Question

. A bomb, initially at rest, explodes into several pieces. (a) Is the linear momentum of the system conserved? Explain. (b) Is the kinetic energy of the system conserved? Explain.

Answer 1

Part(A)

Yes, Linear Momentum of the system is conserved. Initially Linear momentum is zero since bomb is at rest. After scattering, all pieces scatter in such a way that the vector sum of momenta of all pieces is zero.

Part(B)

Kinetic Energy of the system is not conserved since fuel inside the bomb burns and corresponding mass energy converts to Kinetics Energy plus other kinds of radiation. Hence Kinetic Energy get increased.