Can anybody please prove the work energy theorem for a variable force without using calculus?
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~vawter/PhysicsNet… uses calculus. http://www.sparknotes.com/physics/worken… has an intermediate step where the variable force is piecewise constant ( so you can treat it as a lot of little constant force problems) then goes to calculus. If you look hard enough then you may find someone that works backwards for k.e. in circular motion. If the k.e. doesn’t change then the force ( in the direction that the object is moving) integrated over that part of the orbit where the k.e. is contant, must be zero. This ought to be possible without calculus but I haven’t seen it done and am not sure that it would constitute a rigorous proof anyway.
