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When we are altering the force, what can we do with the remaining masses to make sure the mass of the system doesn’t change?

User Iali
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Final answer:

To ensure the mass of a system doesn't change when altering the force, one must adjust the remaining masses so that any mass transfer within the system is balanced, following the law of conservation of mass. Additionally, conservation laws like conservation of momentum are essential in understanding interactions within a system, ensuring the total momentum remains constant.

Step-by-step explanation:

When altering the force in a system and aiming to keep the mass of the system constant, you would need to adjust the masses of the remaining objects in the system accordingly. For instance, if object A exchanges mass with object B within a closed system, the mass gained by object A must be equal to the mass lost by object B to ensure the total mass remains unchanged. This concept aligns with the law of conservation of mass, which states that mass is neither created nor destroyed in a closed system.

Moreover, in the context of physics problems, such as those involving seesaws or pulleys, when you're changing forces and considering the mass of the objects, remember to enter the correct forces and not to prematurely simplify the problem to a ratio of masses unless the problem's conditions, such as the acceleration due to gravity canceling out, necessitate such a simplification.

Conservation of momentum also plays a key role when analyzing systems where external forces like gravity or friction might be present. For momentum to be conserved in a system with no external forces, the net external force must be zero, ensuring that internal forces within the system balance out and the center-of-mass velocity does not change.

User Ilya Khaprov
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