Deriving the Law of Conservation of Momentum

BHS -> Mr. Stanbrough -> Physics -> Mechanics -> Momentum -> Conservation of Momentum -> this page

Here is another way to derive the Law of Conservation of Momentum. The "real" Newton's Second Law says that the net force on an object equals the rate of change of the object's momentum.

It stands to reason, therefore, that if the net force equals zero, the rate of change of momentum must equal zero also. In other words, the momentum won't change. Voila! The Law of Conservation of Momentum!

last update April 26, 2000 by JL Stanbrough