Work

Jamie Z 2024-06-18

Learning Goals

• Recall that work done is dependent of force and displacement
• Recall work results in change in energy for an object

What is Work?

A force acting on an object to cause displacement

1. Displacement must occur
2. Force must cause the displacement
3. W=Fs

Calculating Work

\[ W = Fcos(\theta) \]

• W = work (J)
• F = force (N)
• D = Displacement (m)
• \(\theta\) = angle of displacement

Consider that the waiter is holding food

Force is vertical

• Displacement is horizontal
• Angle between them is 90°
• Cos(90) = 0

Therefore W = 0 and no work is done!

Force Displacement Graphs

• Work can be found from a graph depicting the Force on the y-axis and the Displacement on the x-axis
• As W=Fs the work is calculated as the area under the graph