Law of conservation of energy wrong?

Thread starter Lakshya
Start date Aug 25, 2007
Tags

Conservation Conservation of energy Energy Law

AI Thread Summary

The discussion revolves around a hypothetical scenario where a chain is positioned above a gravity-free plane and then released, raising questions about the conservation of energy. The initial potential energy of the chain is calculated using gravitational potential energy formulas, but the kinetic energy recovered upon impact is significantly lower, suggesting a violation of energy conservation. Participants point out inconsistencies in the premise, particularly the contradiction of having no gravity while using gravitational calculations. The conversation also touches on the complexities of energy transfer and acceleration in a non-uniform system, emphasizing that potential energy changes throughout the chain's descent. Ultimately, the scenario challenges the validity of the law of conservation of energy under the proposed conditions.

Dec 27, 2007

Himanshu

Well I can even put it like this.

Your explanation of modeling a falling chain in post#47 is completely logical if I replace the "discrete" chain with a "continous" rope. There has some amount of work expended on the rope in increasing its speed from zero to the speed of the falling section.
If this explanation is logical for "continous" rope it should be applicable to a "discrete" chain Therefore there cannot an elastic collision between the links. Am I right.

In your analytical solution of the previous post I am stuck at the fifth equation. How did you equate the two sides.

Last edited: Dec 27, 2007