One of the fundamental laws of the universe that any classical physics simulator, including Universe Sandbox, must follow in order to be able to reproduce realistic collisions is the conservation of mass. This is especially important for collisions, in which mass may be exchanged between the colliding objects.
Related Properties & Settings[ | ]
Properties[ | ]
- The amount of mass that is lost in the simulation (see Limitations) can be seen in the Stats menu in the bottom bar.
Models[ | ]
The total mass of all the objects in a simulation must stay constant (unless the user changes this mass by adding, removing, or changing the mass of objects). As objects collide, fragment, merge, or evaporate, their masses may change, but the total mass in the simulation must stay the same. This law allows Universe Sandbox to calculate how much mass any fragments or volatiles must have in order to conserve mass.
Limitations[ | ]
Occasionally, mass is lost from the simulation for performance reason.