How do conservative forces conserve mechanical energy?

AI Thread Summary
Conservative forces conserve mechanical energy by not dissipating energy, unlike non-conservative forces. The energy change when moving between two points in a conservative force field is independent of the path taken, allowing for a consistent definition of potential energy. Potential energy is defined only for conservative forces because it represents a single-valued change in energy, which would not be possible if the energy change depended on the path. The concept of scalar potential is crucial in understanding these relationships in various physics fields. Thus, conservative forces play a key role in the conservation of mechanical energy.
donaldparida
Messages
146
Reaction score
10
How do conservative forces exactly conserve mechanical energy while non conservative forces do not. Also why is potential energy defined only for conservative forces?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
It's not so much that conservative forces do anything to conserve energy. It would be more accurate to say that a conservative force does nothing to dissipate energy. If a force field is conservative, the change in energy in moving from point A to point B is independent of the path taken. Potential energy is essentially a measure of this hypothetical change in moving from point A to point B. If the force was not conservative and the energy change was dependent on the path, then there would be no single-valued potential associated with moving from A to B since moving along different paths produces different answers, so the concept of potential energy doesn't really make sense anymore.

This is all intimately related to the scalar potential, which is a concept that pops up in many fields in physics and is quite powerful and interesting.
 
  • Like
Likes donaldparida

Thread '1:1 versus 2:1 Mechanical Advantage debate'

The rope is tied into the person (the load of 200 pounds) and the rope goes up from the person to a fixed pulley and back down to his hands. He hauls the rope to suspend himself in the air. What is the mechanical advantage of the system? The person will indeed only have to lift half of his body weight (roughly 100 pounds) because he now lessened the load by that same amount. This APPEARS to be a 2:1 because he can hold himself with half the force, but my question is: is that mechanical...
View full post »

Thread 'Newton's first law?'

Some physics textbook writer told me that Newton's first law applies only on bodies that feel no interactions at all. He said that if a body is on rest or moves in constant velocity, there is no external force acting on it. But I have heard another form of the law that says the net force acting on a body must be zero. This means there is interactions involved after all. So which one is correct?
View full post »
Thread 'Beam on an inclined plane'

Thread 'Beam on an inclined plane'

Hello! I have a question regarding a beam on an inclined plane. I was considering a beam resting on two supports attached to an inclined plane. I was almost sure that the lower support must be more loaded. My imagination about this problem is shown in the picture below. Here is how I wrote the condition of equilibrium forces: $$ \begin{cases} F_{g\parallel}=F_{t1}+F_{t2}, \\ F_{g\perp}=F_{r1}+F_{r2} \end{cases}. $$ On the other hand...
View full post »

Similar threads

Law of Conservation of energy and Wnc
Replies
8
Views
2K
Conservative forces, Nonconservative forces and Potential Energy
Replies
9
Views
3K
I Conservation of Momentum versus Conservation of Velocity
Replies
6
Views
2K
Is Mechanical Energy Conservation Free of Ambiguity?
2
Replies
89
Views
10K
Is Mechanical Energy Conserved for Non-Conservative Forces?
Replies
14
Views
2K
B Conservation of momentum and conservation of energy details
Replies
30
Views
2K
Can We Do Better Than Mechanical Energy Conservation?
Replies
9
Views
3K
Internal forces converting kinetic into potential energy (vice versa)
Replies
10
Views
2K
Conservative forces and conservation of mechanical energy
Replies
11
Views
3K
B Conservation of Momentum for system of particles
2
Replies
52
Views
4K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top