The Conway potential function∇(r,s)\nabla (r,s)of a link with one unknotted component labeledssand all other components labeledrrcan be computed recursively using the first two Conway identities.∇(r,s)\nabla (r,s)can be written uniquely as a polynomial inz1=r−r−1{z_1} = r - {r^{ - 1}},z2=s−s−1{z_2} = s - {s^{ - 1}}, and the first power ofz12=rs+r−1s−1{z_{12}} = rs + {r^{ - 1}}{s^{ - 1}}.