Question

What are conservative and non conservative forces?

Answer 1

Hint: Conservative gives us an idea that something is conserved. While non conservative gives us a hint that something is not conserved and is lost while nothing is lost in conservative force. The basic difference relates with the work done by these forces on a body.

Complete step-by-step answer:
Conservative forces are those kinds of forces, acting on an object, whose work done does not depend upon the path traced by the object upon which the force is applied. Work done by conservative forces only depends upon the starting and ending points of the object, upon which the force is applied. It is independent of the path taken by the object. That means if a body moves in a closed path, due to a conservative force applied to it, then the net work done on the body is zero. The curl of a conservative force vector is always zero. It prevents the loss of mechanical energy of the body.
Non-Conservative forces are the forces, acting on an object, whose work done depends upon the path traced by the object upon which the force is applied. Work done by a conservative force not only depends upon the starting and ending points but also depends upon the path taken by the object. Work done by a non conservative force always either removes or adds energy into the body.

Note: Work done by conservative force is reversible but the work done by non conservative force is irreversible in nature. A real life example of conservative force is Gravity while the same for non conservative force is friction.