Q.What do you mean by conservative force? Give example of conservative force.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →A conservative force does work that depends only on the start and end points of the path, not on the path itself; equivalently, the work done by it over any closed loop is zero. Gravity and the spring force are classic examples.
Definition. A force is said to be conservative if the work done by (or against) it in moving a particle from one point to another depends only on the initial and final positions of the particle, and not on the particular path followed between them.
An equivalent, often more useful, statement is: a force is conservative if the total work done by it on a particle that moves around any closed path (returning to its starting point) is exactly zero.
A further important property is that a conservative force can always be associated with a potential energy function, such that the work done by the force equals the negative of the change in this potential energy: W = -(change in potential energy, U_final - U_initial). This is precisely why, for conservative forces, we can meaningfully define potential energy (gravitational PE, elastic PE, etc.), and mechanical energy (KE + PE) is conserved when only conservative forces do work.
Examples of conservative forces: …
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