- #1
lugita15
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Consider a particle at rest (what I mean is that the particle has no velocity, but also has no force acting on it) that spontaneously disintegrates into more than one particle, e.g. two or three particles. Before the particle disintegrates, there is no kinetic energy in the system. Afterwards, there is kinetic energy.
How do you reconcile this with the Law of Conservation of Energy? Do you assume that the initial particle has some potential energy associated with it? The existence of potential energy implies the presence of a conservative force. But if there were some kind of force acting on the particle, this would contradict the assumption that the particle had no forces acting on it to begin with.
In special relativity, this problem doesn't arise because every particle has a rest energy, [tex]m_{0}c^{2}.[/tex] But what about in classical mechanics? Before Einstein came out with the theory of relativity, was the phenomenon of a particle splitting up into more than one particles a completely unexplainable mystery?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You in Advanced.
How do you reconcile this with the Law of Conservation of Energy? Do you assume that the initial particle has some potential energy associated with it? The existence of potential energy implies the presence of a conservative force. But if there were some kind of force acting on the particle, this would contradict the assumption that the particle had no forces acting on it to begin with.
In special relativity, this problem doesn't arise because every particle has a rest energy, [tex]m_{0}c^{2}.[/tex] But what about in classical mechanics? Before Einstein came out with the theory of relativity, was the phenomenon of a particle splitting up into more than one particles a completely unexplainable mystery?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You in Advanced.