Explain why A) You must use conservative forces when defining potential energy B

Question

Explain why A) You must use conservative forces when defining potential energy B) The work done by a conservative force around any closed loop is zero. C) A force is conservative if the work it does around any closed loop is zero. D) A force is conservative if it is only a function of position. E) Friction is not a conservative force F) The coefficient of static friction is larger than the coefficient of kinetic friction. G) The action and reaction forces of Newton's 3d Law do not cancel ou H) we can never be 100% certain of anything we learn in science. We cannot understand all physical sciences just by studying physics, which concerns the most fundamental laws and theories.

Explanation / Answer

(1) The work done by a conservative force is always equal to the negative change in the potential energy during that process. Conservative force does not depend on the path taken for the work and it means it acts only on the displacement just like the definition of potential energy ( which mainly depends on the change in position but not the path in which the position changed). We have to remember that the potentail energy function depends only on teh position.

(2) Because in a closed path the effective displacement is zero so the work done is zero by a conservative force.

(3) Yes, if the total work done around a closed loop is zero, the force is conservative.

(4) Yes, the force when is a fucntion of position alone then it makes sense that it is independent of the path but rather the displacement.

(5) Generally forces that do not store energy are called nonconservative or dissippative forces. friction removes energy from the system and dissipates it and it is no longer available to the system hence it is a non-conservative force.

Hey, I have answered first five questions as per Chegg's guidelines

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