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0 votes
6 answers
288 views

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 ...
2 votes
3 answers
720 views

Work done by tension on a system-generalisation

In All the Classical Mechanics problems I have come across so far, There's one thing that happens invariably: That the work done by tension is zero. Mostly, It simply happens because the (massless) ...
4 votes
2 answers
934 views

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}}...
1 vote
2 answers
150 views

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 $v$...
0 votes
1 answer
282 views

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 ...
1 vote
2 answers
730 views

What is the difference between the principle of virtual work and the principle of virtual displacement?

When I read Reddy's book, "Energy Principles and Variational Methods in Applied Mechanics", Chapter 5.1. I am confused with the two jargons "the principle of virtual displacement" and "the principle ...
0 votes
3 answers
88 views

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 ...
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why does the work-energy theorem need to include internal forces?

Can anyone kindly explain me why work energy theorem must also include internal forces? The proof of work energy theorem is derived from Newton's laws of motion, but Newton's laws of motion don't ...
1 vote
1 answer
91 views

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 ...
1 vote
4 answers
1k views

Sign of work done by friction

In Goldstein's classical mechanics (3rd ed.) we read: "The independence of W12 on the particular path implies that the work done around such a closed circuit is zero,i.e. $$\oint \textbf{F}.d\...
0 votes
5 answers
97 views

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 ...
4 votes
6 answers
1k views

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 ...
1 vote
3 answers
165 views

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 ...
1 vote
1 answer
32 views

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 ...
1 vote
0 answers
77 views

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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