Question

A force that does not depend on the path taken to increase the potential energy is __________.

Answer 1

Potential energy:

1. The potential energy is the energy held by an object because of its position relative to other objects.

Conservative forces:

1. The work done by that force depends only on initial and final conditions and not on the path taken between the initial and final positions of the mass.
2. Only conservative force is related to potential energy.
3. A conservative force is a force with the characteristic that the work is done in moving a particle between $2$ point is independent of the path taken.
4. Potential energy is related to the force that influences a body only based on its spatial position.

Hence, a force which does not depend on the path taken to increase the potential energy is a conservative force only.