work

Also known as physical work, mechanical work

energy transferred to an object via the application of force on it through a displacement

AI overview

Work is the energy transferred to an object when a force is applied to it and it moves in the direction of that force. It matters because it's a fundamental way we understand and measure how forces cause objects to move and change, which applies to everything from lifting objects to powering machines.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

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Image: Baseball pitching motion 2004.jpg

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Commons category: Work (physics)
Stack Exchange tag: physics.stackexchange.com/tags/work

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Article

In science, work is the energy transferred to or from an object via the application of force along a displacement. In its simplest form, for a constant force aligned with the direction of motion, the work equals the product of the force strength and the distance traveled. A force is said to do positive work if it has a component in the direction of the displacement of the point of application. A force does negative work if it has a component opposite to the direction of the displacement at the point of application of the force.

For example, when a ball is held above the ground and then dropped, the work done by the gravitational force on the ball as it falls is positive, and is equal to the weight of the ball (a force) multiplied by the distance to the ground (a displacement). If the ball is thrown upwards, the work done by the gravitational force is negative, and is equal to the weight multiplied by the displacement in the upwards direction.