Is work equal to change in potential energy?

Generally speaking in physics we are interested in conservative forces, and one of the definitions of a conservative force is that the work done is equal to the change in potential energy. This normally means energy neither leaves or enters the system we are considering. read more

Potential energy is the energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position or configuration . And energy is the capacity of doing work since power is work divided by time therefore change in potential energy divided by time is equal to the power of the object. read more

The change in potential is then defined as the negative of the work done by that force. This is technically the gravitational potential energy of the ball-Earth system. In the end, you would get the same expression as before (with the system of just the point particle). read more