Advanced Placement Physics 1 covers the fundamentals of mechanics, waves, and electricity in preparation for college-level physics.
Conservation laws state that certain properties of a system remain constant if no external forces act on it. The most important are conservation of energy and conservation of momentum.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. For example, when you ride a roller coaster, potential energy turns into kinetic energy and back again.
The total momentum of a closed system remains the same, which explains the motion of objects after a collision.
These laws help scientists solve problems and make predictions, from car crashes to rocket launches.
Two ice skaters push off each other and glide in opposite directions, conserving momentum.
A swinging pendulum transforms energy but never loses it in an ideal system.
Conservation laws ensure energy and momentum stay constant in isolated systems.