A conservative force is defined as a force with the following property: when a particle moves in any closed loop, the force acting along the path multiplied by the distance travelled always sums to zero. This is equivalent to saying that when an object moves from one location to another, the force changes the potential energy of the object by an amount that does not depend on the path taken. Informally, a conservative force can be thought of as a force that conserves mechanical energy.

Suppose a particle starts at point A, and there is a constant force F acting on it. Then the particle is moved around by other forces, and eventually ends up at A again. Though the particle may still be moving, at that instant when it passes point A again, it has traveled a closed path.

If the net work done by F at this point is 0, then F passes the closed path test. Any force that passes the closed path test is classified as a conservative force.

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