Quote:
Originally Posted by JazzRoc
Work done is NOT equivalent to FORCE times TIME. I reckon it's FORCE times DISTANCE.
A rock rests on a flat plain on the surface of a gravitational body - say the Earth. It exerts a force on the plain - and the plain exerts a force on it, and nothing goes anywhere.
No work is being done on anything. But time is still passing....... and the force still pressing......
Work is only done when a force moves a mass some distance (lifting the rock off the plain against the gravitational acceleration). Or when a force accelerates a specified mass for a period of time. Acceleration involves a length dimension.
Therefore "Work" involves a length dimension. Distance.
I don't think that much in physics theory these days. I hope you understand what I write here. I knew you weren't correct here but to my astonishment I initially found it difficult to enunciate why.  |
Okay JazzRoc if work is not being done by the solidity of the Earth's surface against the solid rock then what about the following example?
Try holding a heavy sack of potatoes at arms length with just the one arm held horizontally. Hard
WORK isn't it? And yet according to your logic no work is being done because the sack is stationary!