CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY

Conservative Forces
 A conservative force is a force whose work is
independent of its path but depends on the initial
and final positions of the path
 Conservative forces include weight of a particle,
electrostatic force and spring force
 Non conservative forces include friction
Note :
The work done by a conservative force to move a
body in a closed path is zero
CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY
Potential Energy
 Energy is the ability to do work
 Potential energy is the energy possessed by a body due to
its position in a force field
Gravitational Potential energy
 This is the energy possessed by a body due to its position
from the ground as the reference point
CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY
Elastic Potential Energy
 When an elastic spring is elongated or
compressed a distance s from its un stretched
position, an elastic potential energy Ve can be
stored in the spring

Note :
 The elastic potential energy is always positive
CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY
Potential Function
 If a particle is subjected to both gravitational and elastic
forces, the particles potential energy can be expressed as a
potential function
CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY
 The potential function of a particle of weight W
suspended from a spring can be expressed in terms of its
position , s measured from the datum located at the
unstretched length of the spring.
CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY
EXAMPLE 1
CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY
CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY
EXAMPLE 2
CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY