What does the work done by a conservative force such as gravity depend upon?

Question

Question

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OSSC Soil Conservation Extension Worker Official Paper II 11 Feb 2022

Answer 1

The correct answer is Initial and Final positions.

Key Points

A conservative force is one where the work done is independent of the path taken by the object.
This means that the work done by a conservative force like gravity depends only on the initial and final positions.
Gravity is a central force, meaning it acts along the line joining the centers of two masses.
In the case of gravity, the work done is given by the change in gravitational potential energy, which depends only on the height difference between the initial and final positions.
For non-conservative forces like friction, the work done depends on the path taken by the object.
In contrast, for conservative forces, the path independence simplifies calculations in physics problems.