Conservation of Hamiltonian vs Conservation of Energy

Question

What is the difference between conservation of the Hamiltonian and conservation of energy?

Answer 1

Consider the time derivative of the Hamiltonian

$$\frac{dH(q,p,t)}{dt}=\frac{\partial H}{\partial q}\dot{q}+\frac{\partial H}{\partial p}\dot{p}+\frac{\partial H}{\partial t}=-\dot{p}\dot{q}+\dot{q}\dot{p}+\frac{\partial H}{\partial t}$$

From this you see that the Hamiltonian is conserved if it does not depend on time,$t$, explicitly. $H$ may or may not be the total energy, if it is, this means the energy is conserved. But even if it isn't, $H$ is still a constant of motion.