Derivation of the Navier–Stokes equations equation), three important concepts may be concisely written: conservation of mass, conservation of momentum, and conservation of energy. Validity is retained if formula_5 is a vector, in which case the vector-vector product in the second term will be a dyad. A general momentum equation is obtained when the conservation relation is applied to momentum. If the intensive property formula_5; considered is the mass flux (also "momentum density"), i.e. the product of mass density and flow velocity formula_17, by substitution in the general continuum equation: where formula_19 is a dyad, a special case of tensor product, which results in a second
Variable-mass system to the center of mass of the body, and v is the velocity of the body. In astrodynamics, which deals with the mechanics of rockets, the term "v" is often called the effective exhaust velocity and denoted "v". There are different derivations for the variable-mass system motion equation, depending on whether the mass is entering or leaving a body (in other words, whether the moving body's mass is increasing or decreasing, respectively). To simplify calculations, all bodies are considered as particles. It is also assumed that the mass is unable to apply external forces on the body outside of accretion/ablation