Work

Scientists have a different definition of work than the one most people are used to. In order to do work on an object first of all you must apply a force on the object. The second thing you must do is to move or accelerate the object in the direction of the force.

The larger the force you apply the larger the amount of work done (work and force are directly proportional).	The longer the distance the object is moved the larger the amount of work done (work and distance are directly proportional).

This leads to the following equation for work:
work = force • distance where units will be N•m
1 N•m = 1 joule

Remember that the force must be applied in the direction of the motion in order to do work.Click below for examples that show work being done and some that involve no work.

Look Here for Practice Problems:     Problem Set #1      Problem Set #2

       
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