• NAME : SAYAN CHAKRABORTY
• ROLL NO. : 18200123008
• PAPER NAME : PHYSICS –I
• PAPER CODE : BS-PH101
• SEMESTER: 1ST
• DEPARTMENT : C.S.E
INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CA 1 EXAMINATION FOR ODD SEMESTER – 2023
CONSERVATIVE AND NON CONSERVATIVE FORCES
PRESENTED BY
TABLE OF CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION TO CONSERVATIVE FORCES
• INFORMAL DEFINITION
• PATH INDEPENDENCE
• MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION
• INTRODUCTION TO NON CONSERVATIVE FORCES
• DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONSERVATIVE AND NON CONSERVATIVE FORCE
• EXAMPLE OF CONSERVATIVE AND NON CONSERVATIVE FORCES
• LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION TO CONSERVATIVE
FORCES
IN PHYSICS, A CONSERVATIVE FORCE IS A FORCE WITH THE PROPERTY THAT THE TOTAL WORK DONE IN
MOVING A PARTICLE BETWEEN TWO POINTS IS INDEPENDENT OF THE PATH TAKEN.
EQUIVALENTLY, IF A PARTICLE TRAVELS IN A CLOSED LOOP, THE TOTAL WORK DONE (THE SUM OF THE
FORCE ACTING ALONG THE PATH MULTIPLIED BY THE DISPLACEMENT) BY A CONSERVATIVE FORCE IS ZERO.
A CONSERVATIVE FORCE DEPENDS ONLY ON THE POSITION OF THE OBJECT. IF A FORCE IS CONSERVATIVE,
IT IS POSSIBLE TO ASSIGN A NUMERICAL VALUE FOR THE POTENTIAL AT ANY POINT AND CONVERSELY,
WHEN AN OBJECT MOVES FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER, THE FORCE CHANGES THE POTENTIAL
ENERGY OF THE OBJECT BY AN AMOUNT THAT DOES NOT DEPEND ON THE PATH TAKEN, CONTRIBUTING TO
THE MECHANICAL ENERGY AND THE OVERALL CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. IF THE FORCE IS NOT
CONSERVATIVE, THEN DEFINING A SCALAR POTENTIAL IS NOT POSSIBLE, BECAUSE TAKING DIFFERENT
PATHS WOULD LEAD TO CONFLICTING POTENTIAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE START AND END POINTS.
INFORMAL DEFINITION
INFORMALLY, A CONSERVATIVE FORCE CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS A FORCE THAT
CONSERVES MECHANICAL ENERGY. SUPPOSE A PARTICLE STARTS AT POINT A,
AND THERE IS A FORCE F ACTING ON IT. THEN THE PARTICLE IS MOVED
AROUND BY OTHER FORCES, AND EVENTUALLY ENDS UP AT A AGAIN. THOUGH
THE PARTICLE MAY STILL BE MOVING, AT THAT INSTANT WHEN IT PASSES POINT
A AGAIN, IT HAS TRAVELED A CLOSED PATH. IF THE NET WORK DONE BY F AT
THIS POINT IS 0, THEN F PASSES THE CLOSED PATH TEST. ANY FORCE THAT
PATH INDEPENDENCE
A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF THE CLOSED PATH TEST IS THAT THE WORK DONE BY A CONSERVATIVE
FORCE ON A PARTICLE MOVING BETWEEN ANY TWO POINTS DOES NOT DEPEND ON THE PATH TAKEN BY
THE PARTICLE. THIS IS ILLUSTRATED IN THE FIGURE TO THE RIGHT: THE WORK DONE BY THE
GRAVITATIONAL FORCE ON AN OBJECT DEPENDS ONLY ON ITS CHANGE IN HEIGHT BECAUSE THE
GRAVITATIONAL FORCE IS CONSERVATIVE. THE WORK DONE BY A CONSERVATIVE FORCE IS EQUAL TO
THE NEGATIVE OF CHANGE IN POTENTIAL ENERGY DURING THAT PROCESS. FOR A PROOF, IMAGINE TWO
PATHS 1 AND 2, BOTH GOING FROM POINT A TO POINT B. THE VARIATION OF ENERGY FOR THE PARTICLE,
TAKING PATH 1 FROM A TO B AND THEN PATH 2 BACKWARDS FROM B TO A, IS 0; THUS, THE WORK IS THE
SAME IN PATH 1 AND 2, I.E., THE WORK IS INDEPENDENT OF THE PATH FOLLOWED, AS LONG AS IT GOES
FROM A TO B. FOR EXAMPLE, IF A CHILD SLIDES DOWN A FRICTIONLESS SLIDE, THE WORK DONE BY THE
GRAVITATIONAL FORCE ON THE CHILD FROM THE START OF THE SLIDE TO THE END IS INDEPENDENT OF
THE SHAPE OF THE SLIDE; IT ONLY DEPENDS ON THE VERTICAL DISPLACEMENT OF THE CHILD.
MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION
FORCE FIELD F, DEFINED EVERYWHERE IN SPACE (OR WITHIN A SIMPLY-CONNECTED
VOLUME OF SPACE), IS CALLED A CONSERVATIVE FORCE OR CONSERVATIVE VECTOR
FIELD IF IT MEETS ANY OF THESE THREE EQUIVALENT CONDITIONS:
1. THE CURL OF F IS THE ZERO VECTOR
2. THERE IS ZERO NET WORK (W) DONE BY THE FORCE WHEN MOVING A PARTICLE
THROUGH A TRAJECTORY THAT STARTS AND ENDS IN THE SAME PLACE
3. THE FORCE CAN BE WRITTEN AS THE NEGATIVE GRADIENT OF A POTENTIAL, Φ\PHI
INTRODUCTION TO NON CONSERVATIVE
FORCES
• DESPITE CONSERVATION OF TOTAL ENERGY, NON-CONSERVATIVE FORCES CAN ARISE
IN CLASSICAL PHYSICS DUE TO NEGLECTED DEGREES OF FREEDOM OR FROM TIME-
DEPENDENT POTENTIALS.[6] MANY NON-CONSERVATIVE FORCES MAY BE
PERCEIVED AS MACROSCOPIC EFFECTS OF SMALL-SCALE CONSERVATIVE FORCES.
[7] FOR INSTANCE, FRICTION MAY BE TREATED WITHOUT VIOLATING
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY BY CONSIDERING THE MOTION OF INDIVIDUAL
MOLECULES; HOWEVER, THAT MEANS EVERY MOLECULE’S MOTION MUST BE
CONSIDERED RATHER THAN HANDLING IT THROUGH STATISTICAL METHODS. FOR
MACROSCOPIC SYSTEMS THE NON-CONSERVATIVE APPROXIMATION IS FAR EASIER
TO DEAL WITH THAN MILLIONS OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONSERVATIVE
AND NON CONSERVATIVE FORCES
●
S no. ●
Conservative ●
Non Conservative
forces forces
●
1.) ●
W1 = W2 ●
W1 ≠ W2
●
2.) ●
For closed path: W = 0 ●
For closed path: W ≠ 0
●
3.) ●
The force is independent ●
The force depends on
of the path. the path.
●
.) ●
Gravitational Force, ●
Friction, Air resistance,
Spring Force, and and Tension in the cord
Electrostatic force are examples of non-
between two electric conservative force.
charges are examples of
conservative force.
EXAMPLES OF CONSERVATIVE AND
NON CONSERVATIVE FORCES
• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF CONSERVATIVE FORCES: GRAVITATIONAL
FORCE, ELASTIC SPRING FORCE, ELECTROSTATIC FORCE, MAGNETIC FORCE,
CONSTANT FORCE.
• NON-CONSERVATIVE FORCES, ON THE OTHER HAND, DEPEND ON THE
TRAJECTORY FOLLOWED. SOME EXAMPLES OF NON-CONSERVATIVE FORCES
INCLUDE:
• FRICTION MUSCULAR FORCE THE FORCE OF A REAL MACHINE THE TENSION
FORCE ON A ROPE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. CHARACTERIZE A CONSERVATIVE FORCE IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS
SPECIFY MATHEMATICAL CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE SATISFIED BY A
CONSERVATIVE FORCE AND ITS COMPONENTS RELATE THE
CONSERVATIVE FORCE BETWEEN PARTICLES OF A SYSTEM TO THE
POTENTIAL ENERGY OF THE SYSTEM CALCULATE THE COMPONENTS OF
A CONSERVATIVE FORCE IN VARIOUS CASES
REFERENCES
1. FOR EXAMPLE, P. K. SRIVASTAVA (2004). MECHANICS. NEW AGE INTERNATIONAL PUB. (P) LIMITED. P. 94.
ISBN 9788122411126. RETRIEVED 2018-11-20.: “IN GENERAL, A FORCE WHICH DEPENDS EXPLICITLY
UPON THE VELOCITY OF THE PARTICLE IS NOT CONSERVATIVE. HOWEVER, THE MAGNETIC FORCE
(QV×B) CAN BE INCLUDED AMONG CONSERVATIVE FORCES IN THE SENSE THAT IT ACTS
PERPENDICULAR TO VELOCITY AND HENCE WORK DONE IS ALWAYS ZERO”.
2. FOR EXAMPLE, THE MAGNETIC UNIVERSE: GEOPHYSICAL AND ASTROPHYSICAL DYNAMO THEORY,
RÜDIGER AND HOLLERBACH, PAGE 178
3. TOM W. B. KIBBLE, FRANK H. BERKSHIRE. CLASSICAL MECHANICS. (5TH ED). IMPERIAL COLLEGE PRESS
2004
4. FRIEDHELM KUYPERS. KLASSISCHE MECHANIK. WILEY-VCH 2005. PAGE 9.
5. TAYLOR, JOHN R. (2005). CLASSICAL MECHANICS. SAUSALITO, CALIF.: UNIV. SCIENCE BOOKS. PP. 133–138.
