How energy is conserved in Newtonian gravity

Abstract

The concept underlying conservation of energy in a force field is that the work done by particles moving against the force represents energy removed from particles and added to energy in the field. For electromagnetic fields and charged particles, the transfer of energy between charges and local fields is described by Poynting's theorem. However, a similar local model for gravitational energy is not usually taught. In this paper, I derive the equations describing local conservation of energy in Newtonian gravity, discuss the well-known non-uniqueness of various terms, and show how comparison with Poynting's theorem provides insight into conditions for physical significance.