Conservation of Energy
Terms and Formulae
Terms
Conservative force
-
Any force which conserves mechanical energy, as opposed to a nonconservative
force. See statement of conservation of mechanical energy.
Conservative System
-
A system in which energy is conserved.
Nonconservative Force
-
Any force which does not conserve mechanical energy, as opposed to a
conservative force.
Path independence
-
Property of conservative forces which states that the
work done on any path between two given
points is the same.
Potential energy
-
The energy of configuration of a conservative system. For formulae, see
Definition of potential energy,
gravitational potential energy, and
Definition of potential energy given a position-dependent
force.
Kinetic Energy
-
The energy of motion.
Total mechanical energy
-
The sum of the kinetic and potential energy of a conservative
system. See definition of total mechanical energy.
Formulae
| Definition of potential energy. | ΔU = - W |
| Gravitational potential energy. | U G = mgh |
| Statement of conservation of mechanical energy. | Δ(U+K) = 0 |
| Definition of total mechanical energy. | U + K = E |
| Definition of potential energy given a position-dependent force. |
ΔU = - 
F(x)dx
|
