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Related Concept Videos

Non-conservative Forces01:17

Non-conservative Forces

Non-conservative forces are dissipative forces such as friction or air resistance. These forces take energy away from a system as it progresses. Unlike conservative forces, non-conservative forces do not have potential energy associated with them. This is because the energy is lost to the system and cannot be turned into useful work later.
Also unlike their conservative counterparts, they are path-dependent; where the object starts and stops does matter. For example, a grinding wheel applies a...
Conservative Forces01:14

Conservative Forces

According to the law of conservation of energy, any transition between kinetic and potential energy conserves the total energy of the system. Hence, the work done by a conservative force is completely reversible. It is path independent, which means that we can start and stop at any two points in the transition, and the total energy of the system (kinetic plus potential energy at these points) will remain conserved. This is characteristic of a conservative force. Some important examples of...
Conservative Forces01:03

Conservative Forces

Conservative forces are an essential concept in the field of mechanical engineering. Understanding the properties and characteristics of these forces is crucial to the design and analysis of mechanical systems.
Conservative forces are forces that are dependent only on the initial and final positions of an object and that are independent of the path that the object takes between these positions. These forces conserve energy, which means that the work done by the force is independent of the path...
Types of Forces01:09

Types of Forces

In most situations, forces can be grouped into two categories: contact forces and field forces.  Contact forces occur as a result of direct physical contact between objects. Field forces, however, act without the necessity of physical contact between objects. They depend on the presence of a "field" in the region of space surrounding the body under consideration. You can think of a field as a property of space that is detectable by the forces it exerts. Scientists think there are only four...
Force and Potential Energy in One Dimension01:13

Force and Potential Energy in One Dimension

Force can be calculated from the expression for potential energy, which is a function of position. The component of a conservative force, in a particular direction, equals the negative of the derivative of the corresponding potential energy with respect to the displacement in that direction. For regions where potential energy changes rapidly with displacement, the work done and force is maximum. Also, when force is applied along the positive coordinate axis, the potential energy decreases with...
Non-inertial Frames of Reference01:27

Non-inertial Frames of Reference

A reference frame accelerating or decelerating relative to an inertial frame is a non-inertial frame. To help understand this, consider what taking off in an airplane, turning a corner in a car, riding a merry-go-round, and the circular motion of a tropical cyclone all have in common. All these systems are accelerating, decelerating, or rotating relative to the Earth; hence, they all are non-inertial frames. All these systems exhibit inertial forces, which merely seem to arise from motion,...

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Construction of a High Resolution Microscope with Conventional and Holographic Optical Trapping Capabilities
09:12

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Negative nonconservative forces: optical "tractor beams" for arbitrary objects.

S Sukhov1, A Dogariu

  • 1CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics University of Central Florida, Orlando, 32816, USA. ssukhov@creol.ucf.edu

Physical Review Letters
|December 21, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Scientists demonstrate novel nonconservative optical forces generated by scattering light from objects. These forces push objects opposite to the light

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Area of Science:

  • Optics
  • Photonics
  • Nanotechnology

Background:

  • Optical forces are typically conservative, acting along the light propagation direction.
  • Understanding light-matter interactions is crucial for optical manipulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate nonconservative optical forces generated via scattering.
  • To explore tailoring optical force fields on various objects.

Main Methods:

  • Applying the principle of conservation of linear momentum.
  • Analyzing light scattering from arbitrary objects.

Main Results:

  • Generation of optical forces acting opposite to the incident beam's propagation.
  • Demonstration of force generation on nonabsorbing bodies of any size or shape.

Conclusions:

  • Nonconservative optical forces can be generated through scattering.
  • This principle offers versatile control over optical forces for diverse applications.