Section 7.3 - Work

1
Section 7.3 - Work

• Work is a measure of the cumulative effect of a
  force in moving an object from one position to
  another.
• Pushing a box full of books down the hallway.
• Raising a bucket full of water from the bottom
  of a well.
• Pumping oil from the ground.
• Launching a satellite into orbit.

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The Units Of Work
Force ? Distance Work pounds ? feet
ft-lb Newtons ? meters N-m
3
The Work Integral
In the simplest case, we have a constant force F
applied to an object to move it in a straight
line from point a to point b. In this situation,
the work is F(b ? a). Integral calculus
provides us a way to compute work when the force
exerted is not constant, but varies with position
x (i.e., force is a function of x, written as
F(x)).