Conservative System -- from Eric Weisstein's World of Physics

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Conservative System

This entry contributed by Dana Romero

A conservative system is a system in which work done by a force is

1. Independent of path.

2. Equal to the difference between the final and initial values of an energy function.

3. Completely reversible.

The two most notable conservative systems are gravitational and electric fields. With gravity for example, the gravitational potential energy acquired or lost by a mass depends only on the difference between heights (or between distances from the origin of the force), and not on the path taken to get from one state to the other.

Contrast a conservative system with a system involving friction in which the work done to get between states does depend on the path taken and is not reversible.

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