What is Law: Definition and 1000 Discussions

Law is a system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and the art of justice. State-enforced laws can be made by a group legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes; by the executive through decrees and regulations; or established by judges through precedent, usually in common law jurisdictions. Private individuals may create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that adopt alternative ways of resolving disputes to standard court litigation. The creation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people.
Legal systems vary between countries, with their differences analysed in comparative law. In civil law jurisdictions, a legislature or other central body codifies and consolidates the law. In common law systems, judges make binding case law through precedent, although on occasion this may be overturned by a higher court or the legislature. Historically, religious law influenced secular matters, and is still used in some religious communities. Sharia law based on Islamic principles is used as the primary legal system in several countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia.Law's scope can be divided into two domains. Public law concerns government and society, including constitutional law, administrative law, and criminal law. Private law deals with legal disputes between individuals and/or organisations in areas such as contracts, property, torts/delicts and commercial law. This distinction is stronger in civil law countries, particularly those with a separate system of administrative courts; by contrast, the public-private law divide is less pronounced in common law jurisdictions.Law provides a source of scholarly inquiry into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis and sociology. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness, and justice.

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  1. jaumzaum

    Real Hooke's law for springs

    I was wondering which equation do springs obey better: $$F=-kx$$ $$F=-k ln(x/x_0)$$ The first is Hooke's law, but the second comes when we consider the relative deformation instead of the absolute deformation. I am asking because I haven't seen any website stating the second equation, I just...
  2. V

    Exploring Hooks Law & Oscillation-Method Spring Constants

    During an experiment, using Hooks law resulted in a spring constant of 7,8N/m while for the oscillation-method the constant was 8,6N/m. Could someone help me to clarify whay they differ and which vlsue is the correct one.
  3. LCSphysicist

    Where does Newton's third law fail?

    I have read in some books and articles of classic mechanics that the Newton's third law does not always hold, could you say an example to me?
  4. F

    I What is the orgin of Gauss' law?

    Was Gauss' law originally derived from theory or discovered by experiment?
  5. S

    Transformation law of momentum under Galilean transformation

    I'm reading the article https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267938119_ON_THE_GALILEAN_COVARIANCE_OF_CLASSICAL_MECHANICS (pdf link here), in which the authors want to establish the transformation rule for momentum, assuming only that ##\vec{F}=d\vec{p}/dt## and notwithstanding the relation...
  6. TheBigDig

    I Visualising an alternative formulation of Planck's Radiation Law

    I've come across this alternative formulation of Planck's Law which links the number density to energy gap n(E) = \frac{2\pi}{c^2 h^3} \frac{E^2}{exp\big(\frac{E-\mu}{k_BT})-1} I've tried visualising this relation and I imagine it will look similar to the spectral density relation but I'm just...
  7. F

    I The 'outer surface' should be redefined when applying Gauss' law?

    Gauss' law dictates that charge will only appear on the outer surface of a conductor. But if there's charge in a conducting cavity, the inner surface of the conductor will accumulate induced charge. So what's outer or inner should be redefined?
  8. E

    B Understanding Benford's Law Proof: Scaling and Invariance

    The significant digits of numbers in sets of numerical data supposedly follows "Benford's Law", which asserts that the probability that the first digit in a given data point is ##D## is about ##\log_{10}(1+ \frac{1}{D})##. An upshot is that we expect ~30% of significant digits to be ##1##. The...
  9. P

    Hubble's Law and Doppler Shift

    (a) How far would a galaxy be whose speed with respect to the Earth is ##c##? Would it be observable from the Earth? r=rα=1.5⋅1026 m =1.6⋅1010 lightyears<4.65⋅1010 lightyearsr=rα=1.5⋅1026 m =1.6⋅1010 lightyears<4.65⋅1010 lightyearsr=rα=1.5⋅1026 m =1.6⋅1010 lightyears<4.65⋅1010 lightyears...
  10. S

    Covariance of Newton's 2nd Law under Galilean boosts

    I'm reading a section in a textbook on the explanation of covariance of Newton's 2nd law under Galilean boosts. It's explained that ##\mathbf{a}=\mathbf{a'}## (where we're considering two frames ##S## and ##S'## moving inertially w.r.t. each other). Mass is assumed to not vary across the frames...
  11. Baran

    Newton's third law -- Calculate the recoil of a paintball gun

    I've been stuck on this for sometime now, and am unsure how to approach this question.
  12. wilywolie

    Could someone check the answers to these Gauss' Law questions?

  13. L

    Law of Conservation of Energy Proof

    Although I am not too sure how to answer this quesion I have tried below. I realize that an electromotive force is a supply voltage, the energy transferred per unit charge when one type of energy is converted into electrical energy. However, EMF is not actually a force. It is usually measured...
  14. E

    Gauss' law for a physical capacitor with finite thickness plates

    In derivations of capacitance it is standard to consider two oppositely charged, infinitely thin sheets. If we construct a Gaussian cylinder across one sheet, we obtain ##E_{1} = \frac{\sigma}{2\epsilon_{0}}## for one sheet, and then we can superpose this field with that from the other at an...
  15. A

    Physics problems with Newton's law of gravitation

    I do not know how to do this because in order to find the force of gravity it seemed to me i need to know the mass of the planet and vice versa, and for the 1st exercice i do not know whether the planet fills the astronaut's field of view. If it does in understand that i need to use trigonometry...
  16. filip97

    A Transformation law of the energy momentum tensor

    We have 4-tensor of second rank. For example energy-momentum tensor ##T_μν## , which is symmetric and traceless. Then ##T_{μν}=x_μx_ν+x_νx_μ## where ##x_μ## is 4-vector. Every 4- vector transform under Lorentz transform as (12,12). If we act on ## T_{μν}## , by representation( with...
  17. P

    Gauss' Law question about a conducting rod

    This is my attempt, i am confused at some points a. r = 0; The Electric field is 0 b. At r = a/2.00; I verified the answer and it is non zero, but my understanding is that the net charge should be on the surface of the conductor. Hence the charge q1=5*10^-15 C, should go to the surface of the...
  18. kashika1212

    Deriving Pith Ball Mass from Coulomb's Law: A Scientific Exploration

    I actually found most of it out I'm just struggling with how to find the mass of the balls. I'm not sure how you would do that since could only derive two equations from the information given or are we assuming the mass is so small that it doesn't matter? Q = charge of one pith ball d =...
  19. P

    Solving for earthquake transit time via Snell's Law

    I was told to solve the second equation above for x to get l2 and l2, but that only gets me those in terms of other unknowns. I'm assuming I just need to solve t for my knowns, but I keep getting caught up by my unknowns. i.e., solving for x gives x = (l2*L*v2)/(l1*v1+l2*v2). Please note "l" is...
  20. S

    Coulomb's Law problem: Force of attraction between the two singly charged ions

    In a salt crystal, the distance between adjacent sodium and chloride ions is 2.82×10^−10m. What is the force of attraction between the two singly charged ions?
  21. A

    Test charge velocity in Coulomb's Law

    The force on a test charge Q due to source charge q, depends on both their velocities in addition to several other quantities. For electrostatics, the source charge is at rest (its velocity is zero) but the test charge may be moving. Then how does Coulomb's Law accommodate for this velocity of...
  22. P

    Gauss' law -- Conductor with a cavity

    I really don't understand the theory of the above kind of questions. But from the little theory i understand the Electric field is 0 inside the conductor and all the charge goes to the surface and distributes equally. a. Since the E=0 inside the conductor the point charge distributes outside...
  23. jackdale

    The Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Stefan-Boltzmann Law

    I have a question about the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Stefan-Boltzmann law. These quotes are from http://www.ces.fau.edu/nasa/module-2/correlation-between-temperature-and-radiation.php “The Stefan-Boltzmann law, a fundamental law of physics, explains the relationship between an...
  24. P

    Gauss Law Problem direction of Area

    My attempt is ∅ = ∫E.dA. The direction of E is going out of the net towards +ve i axis. I am not clear on the direction of the Area, it can be either +ve i-axis or -ve i-axis. Which direction should i consider? ∅ = ∫3.dA = 3*∫dA ---->1 ∫dA is the area of the circle. A = π * (0.11)^2 = 0.038...
  25. B

    Kirchhoff's law: Circuit problem with multiple batteries and resistors

    Struggling to see if I am doing this right or not from a section of a question I have been given I have drawn out a sketch of the circuit again, and labelled as to what my 1st and 2nd closed loop to be to then apply Kirchhoff's 2nd law I get a negative I_2 current which just indicates that...
  26. T

    Describing the second law of motion using linear momentum

    Hi! This is a very simple question regarding terms of expressions. One law of motion is: F=ma Another, using L as the linear momentum, is: F = dL/dt If the first equation can be characterized (ignoring reference frames) as a "coordinate-based equation" (since is concerned with the second...
  27. I

    Why are 2/3 of my brake lights required to work by law?

    In my State, the statute says 2 of 3 brake lights required. How is one brake light any brighter than 3 or 4? Is my perception of reality flawed? & though I say it is just as bright, when asked to give a reason why, I can not produce any answer. Is it because it is simply “there” or is it...
  28. A

    Understanding a step in a Biot-Savart law problem

    I can't understand intuitively why the authors of the book expressed the cross product between the vectors dl and r (unit vector) as: dl sin(pi/2 - theta); isn't it supposed to be expressed as: dl sin(theta)?? So why did the authors put that pi/2 into the argument of sin function, that's my...
  29. K

    Determine the magnetic field inside and outside the cable using Ampere's law

    My attempt: I realized after i had tried to solve the problem that the current must be constant in the cables. But no information about where the cables has radius a and b is given so how would I go about to find an expression for the current? Thanks in advance!
  30. jisbon

    Fourier’s Law Of Heat Conduction (Window Pane)

    In this case with a presence of the airgap, what should I do with the equation that is provided to be? Must the temperature gradient be caculated spearately (glass+air+glass) ? My tutor provided the hint that the heat flux should be constant for the windows, so in this case should I just omit...
  31. frostysh

    I with understanding Kepler's second law

    I have a lot of questions as usually, but must begin with the difficult to understand moment which have started my explorations of the Kepler's second law. In the book of Steven Wainberg "To Explain The World", in the technical paragraph twenty one I have found the next formula which represents...
  32. Adesh

    Analysis of a deformable body and Newton's 3rd Law

    I'm posting the images of "Sommerfeld's Lectures on Theoretical Physics, Vol 2, Mechanics of Deformable Bodies" I apologize for posting the images rather than writing out the whole thing. But I did it to so that nothing should be missed, as writing out the...
  33. F

    B field between the plates of a charging capacitor (Ampere's law)

    A standard example consider a capacitor whose parallel plates have a circular shape, of radius R, so that the system has a cylindrical symmetry. The magnetic field at a given distance r from the common axis of the plates is calculated via Ampere's law: \oint_\gamma {\mathbf B} \cdot d{\mathbf...
  34. R

    Movement contraptions that inspired Newton's 2nd law of motion

    Besides gravity that always works perpendicular to Earth and thus pulls apples from apple trees towards the ground, there must have been some sort of mid 17th century human made contraption, that used a constant force, produced to move objects with or without wheels, in a direction parallel to...
  35. D

    I Planck's law in wavenumber vs. wavelength

    I have asked this question elsewhere. I have gotten no clear answer. What I already know: The interval (differential) sizes (areas) are different in terms of wavelength and wavenumber. The total energy is the same when the curves are integrated over all wavelengths or wavenumbers So please...
  36. T

    B Where is the quantization term in Planck's Law?

    This is a very remedial question, so thanks in advance for you gentle indulgence :smile: Where do I find the quantization term (the "n") in Planck's Law?
  37. A

    Why Does Calculating Tension in Multiple Blocks Require Different Forces?

    If I want to find the tension in the rope that connects block A and B. I can apply Newtons first law. Sum of all forces in opposite direction equals 0. The forces that work on block A is Friction (Ra) and the force on the rope that pulls the block towards the right (T) So we get T-Ra = 0 and...
  38. B

    Solving Faraday's Law: 0.73V Induced EMF Help Needed

    I have a simple sketch of the diagram, and I know I must use the vertical component of the magnetic field of the Earth when doing this problem I got an induced emf of 0.73 volts but I do not know if I correctly substituted the right values into faraday's law equation? Any help will be really...
  39. M

    Engineering Thermodynamics - Second Law: 2 Heat Engines Connected Between 3 Metal Blocks

    Hi, I posted a similar question recently and gained some insight on these types of problems. However, I am slightly stumped on how to approach this variation of the problem. So I know that: - there is no net change in enthalpy of the blocks and the engine as the processes are reversible -...
  40. P

    Finding the height of a focus point via ray tracing @ Snell's Law

    So far all I can work out is that the angle of incidence of the outer two and inner two rays is zero degrees, however, I can't work out how to get started on the problem. I feel like I need to use vertical slowness rather than the normal snell's law since I'm working with a dZ rather than a dX...
  41. H

    B Boyle's law vs the Venturi effect

    So this is something I been thinking about. In venturi principle when a fluid or gas is moving across a tube when it is constricted the fluid has increased velocity. Because it in constriction the pressure goes down. But in Boyle law if volume is decreased the pressure goes up. So in the...
  42. xWaldorf

    Exploring Newton's 3rd Law: Mass & Reaction

    So there's something I'm missing when I think of Newton's 3rd law of motion. If all forces between two objects exist in equal magnitude and opposite direction, how is it that, for example, when I'm driving my car, the car "runs through" all the air molecules, and they seemingly don't exert the...
  43. opus

    Using the Law of Sines - Getting a Domain Error on my Calculator

    So we'd like to find leg C. But we can't use Law of Cosines yet so we will use Law of Sines. We can easily find the length of A and this is ##\sqrt{13}##. With some geometry we can see that ##\angle a = 53.1##. We can now use Law of sines. $$\frac{\sin(a)}{A} = \frac{\sin(b)}{B}$$ We want to...
  44. moeug1999

    Coulomb's Law: Solving Problems with Electric Charges

    This is my attempt but they said my answer is wrong
  45. V

    Ohm's law and Kirchoff — What am I missing?

    [Moved to homework, so no template] Summary:: trying to figure out physics for current and having issues. keep getting something that does not make sense. working on this issue, and i think i have to find ttl resistance, to find current using ohms law. looking at the circuit attached there is...
  46. P

    Ampere's law -- application with two conducting loops

    I am trying to get more confidence on the direction of current using Amperes law, the problem statement is Loop1: My first task was to assign the direction of current. If I wrap around the my right hand fingers in the direction of integration the thumb is pointing up hence Positive Y direction...
  47. carter7gindenv

    Clarification about Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation

    Hello, I'd like some clarification with the exact wording of Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation. The law states that at thermal equilibrium αλ=ελ. However sometimes I read that absorptivity= emissivity and sometimes I read that rate of A. = rate of E. Which one is correct? I'm not sure but I...
  48. HAgdn

    Validating a Modified Biot-Savart Law

    I tried validating the equation by somehow 'solving' only with the involved units. Magnetic Flux Density – Tesla (T) – Weber (Wb) per square meter (Wb/m2)
  49. P

    Ampere's Law Problem: B-Field from a Current Distribution

    This is the problem, first time i am attempting the Ampere's law problem From the above question this is my attempt, the picture is ∫B.ds = μ*Ienc; ----> Ampere law , where Ienc is the current enclosed in the amperian loop. I assume the circle as the amperian loop, is it correct? Can i...
  50. DMB

    Chemistry Integrated rate law homework equations Gen Chem II

    No idea how to solve
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