This may sound dumb to some folks, but lets say I fire a gun. 1000N of force goes into the bullet, and another 1000N of force goes into my body. Even if i strap the gun to the ground, it will just apply 1000N of force to move the earth by a tiny amount. Because of this, does it mean that it isn’t possible to have 2000N of force going to the bullet with the same parameters as before?
In: Physics
It doesn’t, and force doesn’t equal energy.
Consider Newtons Cradle- the ball and string thing you may have seen.
When one ball hits the other four, there’s a force to stop the moving ball, and this is transferred to an equal and opposite force that pushes the opposite ball. This battery continues, no waste, though friction and other forces do eventually slow the balls and stop the motion (“wasting the energy” – friction converts some of the energy to heat, the balls make some sound when they hit- the sound waves take energy)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_cradle
Latest Answers