The work W done on an object by a constant force F is dependent on the magnitude and direction of the force, as well as the magnitude of the object’s displacement (distance) d, and is given by the dot product of the force and displacement:
science
Description
Work
The work W done on an object by a constant force F is dependent on the magnitude and direction of the force, as well as the magnitude of the object’s displacement (distance) d, and is given by the dot product of the force and displacement:
(1) When the force is parallel to the object’s displacement, the angle between them becomes zero, and the equation simplifies to:
(2) When the magnitude of the applied force is variable, the work done by the force is the area under a force versus position curve:
(3) When the force is parallel to the displacement, this simplifies to:
(4) In this lab, we will use this graphical relationship to determine the work done on a cart.
