Can someone explain what work total is? In my lessons it said Work total is the sum of all work & showed an example of different work being added together. An assignment after that however made me think that may not be the case... Do I need to add the work in some cases or is work always work total? If it is always work total how do I pick a formula?
Thanks! :)
I assume that you are talking about one rigid body. Work input is basically the force times the displacement in the direction of the force. You can have more than one force acting on a body but if so, combine (add) them and only use the component in the direction of motion.
I am not familiar with your example so can not comment.
The best way to clear up your question is to post the assignment question, and tell us your interpretation or your doubts.
Ok I will do, thank you :)
Work total refers to the total amount of work done in a particular situation. Work is a measure of the energy transfer that occurs when a force is applied to an object and causes it to move a certain distance in the direction of the force. The amount of work done can vary depending on the situation.
In your lessons, when it mentioned that Work total is the sum of all work, it means that if you have multiple forces acting on an object and each force is doing work, then the work done by each force can be added together to find the total amount of work done on the object.
However, it's important to note that in some cases, the work done by certain forces may cancel each other out. For example, if one force is acting in the opposite direction to another force, the work done by these forces may be subtracted rather than added. In this case, the net work would be the difference between the two.
To determine whether you need to add or subtract the work done in a particular scenario, you should consider the direction of the forces involved. If a force is acting in the same direction as the displacement of the object, the work done by that force is positive and should be added. If a force is acting in the opposite direction to the displacement, the work done by that force is negative and should be subtracted.
To calculate the work done by a single force, you can use the formula: Work = Force × Distance × cos(θ), where θ is the angle between the direction of the force and the direction of displacement.
To calculate the work total in a situation with multiple forces, you would need to calculate the work done by each force individually using the formula mentioned above, taking into account the direction of each force and the angle between the force and the direction of displacement. Once you have calculated the work done by each force, you can then add or subtract them to find the total work done.
I hope this helps clarify the concept of work total for you! Feel free to ask any further questions.