conservation law

American  

noun

Physics, Chemistry.

1. any law stating that some quantity or property remains constant during and after an interaction or process, as conservation of charge or conservation of linear momentum.

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conservation law Scientific  

1. Any of various principles, such as the conservation of charge and the conservation of energy, that require some measurable property of a closed system to remain constant as the system changes. Conservation laws can be directly related to principles of symmetry.

2. See also invariance Noether's theorem

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Etymology

Origin of conservation law

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

It's protected by conservation law, but the status of the river has been downgraded to "unfavourable - declining" by Natural England.

From BBC • May 24, 2026

Macaques are classified as a protected species under Thailand’s wildlife conservation law.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 3, 2024

In 1980, Arizona enacted a groundwater conservation law that requires developers in the Phoenix metropolitan region to assure buyers that their homes and businesses have a 100-year water supply.

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2022

According to a 1915 theorem by mathematician Emmy Noether, any symmetry in a physical system leads to a conservation law.

From Scientific American • Nov. 18, 2022

How inadequate a game conservation law of closed season, without regard to the breeding habits of the animal concerned!

From Adequate Preparation for the Teacher of Biological Sciences in Secondary Schools by McDonald, James Daley