All Questions
Tagged with classical-mechanics work
211
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Is there a non-counterfactual definition of energy? [duplicate]
I have once heard that the definition of energy is "the ability to do work". However, that is a counterfactual definition, because a physical system can have that ability without actually ...
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Does potential energy actually exist? Or is it just a useful mathematical model? [closed]
The title basically covers it. I've actually thought about this question for a while now, and I am still not sure if I have a definitive answer. Most potential energies seem to just be the work that ...
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How do we justify that work is a "transfer of energy" in the general case?
By the work-energy theorem, we can justify that the work on a particle due to the net force equals the change in kinetic energy of the particle. In compact notation,
\begin{align}\tag{1}
W_{\text{net}}...
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Is work done relative according to the theory of special relativity?
I performed a thought experiment.
Consider a body $A$ and another body $B$.
Body $B$ is moving at velocity $v$ in direction $x$ with respect to $A$. This implies that body $A$ is moving at velocity $v$...
user355398
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Why do manual treadmills burn more calories than automatic treadmills?
Studies show that manual treadmills burn 30% more calories than automatic ones.
Let's assume that there is no air friction.
The figure is a diagram of the forces acting on a person running on the ...
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Consolidating two ways to calculate work
I was wondering if I could get some help closing some fundamental gaps in my intuition of work, as it relates to force and distance travelled.
Scenario
Say we pull a 1kg box along the ground. We pull ...
- 163
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Kinetic and Potential Energy of a multi degree of freedom (MDOF) system
Consider the following MDOF system:
$M\ddot x+Kx=F$
where $M$ and $K$ are the mass and stiffness matrix respectively, and $x$ and $F$ are the displacement and force vectors.
How can one determine the ...
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How can potential energy increase? [closed]
If work is done on a body, the energy of the body increases. If work is done by the body, energy decreases. When we take a body up to some height, some work is done by us on the body, which is stored ...
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Does work-energy theorem account for thermal energy?
Suppose a box (which I assume to be a rigid body) with an initial velocity that starts to slide on a level surface with friction. Imagine this experiment is done in vacuum, so there is no air drag or ...
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Power when work is 0
Imagine a rocket of mass m that is at a constant altitude. Gas velocity v. It is necessary to find the power P of the engine. I have a problem: to find the power, you need to divide the work by the ...
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Work done on a body and work done by the body
I want to know that, if we suppose that, if a ball is falling freely then work would be done on the ball by gravity so energy would be given to the ball? and when the ball rebounds after striking the ...
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Aren't the virtual work/virtual power principles in mechanics simply solving for the vector differential equation of motion in a preferred direction?
My conceptual understanding of the virtual work/virtual power principles is that, by hypothesizing "virtual displacements"/"virtual velocities", one can solve the equations of ...
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Do rigid bodies experience work greater than or equal to that of point particles?
Consider the following two scenarios in outer space:
A yo-yo whose string is pulled by a constant force.
The same yo-yo as before although this time, the string is fully unwound and attached to the ...
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How can the Joule be the unit of both work and energy?
Say a person applies 1 N to a box with a mass of 1 kg, displacing 1 m. This is one Joule of work
(1 N for 1 m).
Now say the person applies 1 N to a box with double the mass, displacing 1 m as well. ...
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Why is force "accumulated" more at a higher speed?
I tried to understand why kinetic energy is proportional to the square of velocity. In this endeavor I stumbled upon a book "Emilie du Chatelet: Daring Genius of the Enlightenment" (ISBN 978-...
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