Question

It is possible to define a potential energy only for a conservative force, but not for a non-conservative force. In a few sentences, please explain why this is.

Answer 1

Potential energy is a state property, which depends only on the end points, and the definition of potential energy states that the work done in bringing the particle from infinity to a point gets stored in the form of potential energy.

However, since work done in the presence of non conservative forces depends on the path traversed, and also the energy gets dissipated or gets add to the system, which is dependent on path, therefore potential energy can't be associated with the non conservative forces