Three conservation laws are used to solve fluid dynamics problems, and may be written in integral or differential form. The conservation laws may be applied to a region of the flow called a control volume. A control volume is a discrete volume in space through which fluid is assumed to flow. The integral formulations of the conservation laws are used to describe the change of mass, momentum, or energy within the control volume. Differential formulations of the conservation laws apply Stokes' theorem to yield an expression that may be interpreted as the integral form of the law applied to an infinitesimally small volume (at a point) within the flow.