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General Physics 1
WORK
PROG WORKRESS
What do you
understand about
the term
“WORK”?
Work
When a force acts upon an object to
cause a displacement of the object, it
is said that work was done upon the
object.
Work
 There are three key ingredients to work:
 Force
 Displacement
 Cause
 In order for a force to qualify as having done work on

an object, there must be a displacement and the
force must cause the displacement.
Read the statements and determine whether
or not they represent examples of work.
1. A teacher applies a force to a
wall and becomes exhausted.
2. A book falls off a table and free
falls to the ground.
3. A rocket accelerates through
space.
4. A waiter carries a tray full of meals above his
head by one arm straight across the room at
constant speed. (Careful! This is a very difficult
question that will be discussed in more detail
later.)
Work
 Mathematically,
W=F•d
W = F • d • cos Θ
• where
• F is the force,
• d is the displacement,
• angle (theta) is the angle between the force and the displacement
vector.
Work
 To gather an idea of the angle’s meaning, consider
the following scenarios.
 Scenario A: A force acts rightward upon an object as it is displaced
rightward. In such an instance, the force vector and the
displacement vector are in the same direction. Thus, the angle
between F and d is 0 degrees.
Work
 Scenario B: A force acts leftward upon an object that is displaced
displacement vector are in the opposite direction. Thus, the
angle between F and d is 180 degrees.
Work
 Scenario C: A force acts upward on an object as it is displaced
displacement vector are at right angles to each other. Thus, the
angle between F and d is 90 degrees.
Work
 To Do Work, Forces Must Cause Displacements
Let’s consider Scenario C above in more
detail. Scenario C involves a situation
similar to the waiter who carried a tray full
of meals above his head by one arm
straight across the room at constant
speed. It was mentioned earlier that the
waiter does not do work upon the tray as
he carries it across the room. The force
supplied by the waiter on the tray is an
upward force and the displacement of the
tray is a horizontal displacement.
Work
 To Do Work, Forces Must Cause Displacements
As such, the angle between the force and
the displacement is 90 degrees. If the
work done by the waiter on the tray were
to be calculated, then the results would
be 0. Regardless of the magnitude of the
force and displacement, F*d*cosine 90
degrees is 0 (since the cosine of 90
degrees is 0). A vertical force can never
cause a horizontal displacement; thus,
a vertical force does not do work on a
horizontally displaced object!!
W = F • d • cos Θ
Work
 The Meaning of Theta
When determining the
measure of the angle in the
work equation, it is important
to recognize that the angle
has a precise definition - it is
the angle between the force
and the displacement vector.
Work
 The Meaning of Theta
The amount of work done to raise the cart from the floor to the seat top is dependent upon
the force applied to the cart and the displacement caused by this force.
Work
 Units of Work
Check Your Understanding
1. Apply the work equation to determine the amount of work
done by the applied force in each of the three situations
described below.
2. On many occasions, there is more than one force
acting upon an object. A free-body diagram is a
diagram that depicts the type and the direction of all
the forces acting upon an object. The following
descriptions and their accompanying free-body
diagrams show the forces acting upon an object. For
each case, indicate which force(s) are doing work upon
the object. Then calculate the work done by these
forces.
Only Fapp does work. Fgrav and Fnorm do not do Wapp= (10 N) * (5 m) *cos (0 degrees) = +50 Joules
work since a vertical force cannot cause a
horizontal displacement.
Only Ffrict does work. Fgrav and Fnorm do not do Wfrict =(10 N) * (5 m) * cos (180 degrees) = -50 Joules
work since a vertical force cannot cause a
Fapp and Ffrict do work. Fgrav and Fnorm do not do Wapp = (10 N) * (5 m) * cos (0 deg) = +50 Joules
work since a vertical force cannot cause a Wfrict = (10 N) * (5 m) * cos (180 deg) = -50 Joules
Neither of these forces do work. Forces do not No work is done.

do work when they makes a 90-degree angle
with the displacement.
Fgrav and Ftens do work. Forces do work when Wtens = (20 N) * (5 m) * cos (0 deg) = +100 Joules
there is some component of force in the same Wgrav = (20 N) * (5 m) * cos (180 deg) = -100 Joules
or opposite direction of the displacement.
4. Ben Ten carries a 200-N suitcase up three
flights of stairs (a height of 10.0 m) and then
pushes it with a horizontal force of 50.0 N at a
constant speed of 0.5 m/s for a horizontal
distance of 35.0 meters. How much work does
Ben do on his suitcase during this entire
motion?
3.
4.

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General Physics 1

 In order for a force to qualify as having done work on

Neither of these forces do work. Forces do not No work is done.

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