What is the definition and equation for work?
“In physics, mechanical work is the amount of energy transferred by a force. Like energy, it is a scalar quantity, with SI units of joules. The term work was first coined in the 1830s by the French mathematician Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis. According to the work-energy theorem if an external force acts upon an object, causing its kinetic energy to change from Ek1 to Ek2, then the mechanical work (W) is given by: W = ΔEk = Ek1 – Ek2 = 1/2 m Δ(v²) where m is the mass of the object and v is the object’s speed. When the force is in the same direction as the displacement, the mechanical work can be calculated from the scalar multiplication of the applied force (F) and the displacement (d) of the object.
