In physics, a force is said to do workwhen it acts on a body so that there is a displacement of the point of application, however small, in the direction of the force. Thus a force does work when there is movement under the action of the force.
The term work was introduced in 1826 by the French mathematicianGaspard-Gustave Coriolis, as "weight lifted through a height", which is based on the use of early steam engines to lift buckets of water out of flooded ore mines. The SI unit of work is the newton-meter or joule (J).
The work done by a constant force of magnitude F on a point that moves a distance d in the direction of the force is the product,
For example, if a force of 10 newton (F = 10 N) acts along point that travels 2 metres (d = 2 m), then it does the work W = (10 N)(2 m) = 20 N m = 20 J. This is approximately the work done lifting a 1 kg weight from ground to over a persons head against the force of gravity. Notice that the work is doubled either by lifting twice the weight the same distance or by lifting the same weight twice the distance.
The term work was introduced in 1826 by the French mathematicianGaspard-Gustave Coriolis, as "weight lifted through a height", which is based on the use of early steam engines to lift buckets of water out of flooded ore mines. The SI unit of work is the newton-meter or joule (J).
The work done by a constant force of magnitude F on a point that moves a distance d in the direction of the force is the product,
For example, if a force of 10 newton (F = 10 N) acts along point that travels 2 metres (d = 2 m), then it does the work W = (10 N)(2 m) = 20 N m = 20 J. This is approximately the work done lifting a 1 kg weight from ground to over a persons head against the force of gravity. Notice that the work is doubled either by lifting twice the weight the same distance or by lifting the same weight twice the distance.