Contrast situations where work is done with different amounts of force to situations where no work is done, such as standing still.

Picking up a sheet of paper . . . work done with small force Picking up a glass of water . . . work done with moderate force Picking up a huge boulder . . . work done with a great tremendous force
Standing still . . . Holding your tongue out as far as it will go . . . Holding your arm over your head for 3 days . . . Holding a huge boulder motionless over your head . . . Pushing on a brick wall . . . Pushing as hard as you can against a truck with the wheels locked . . . . . . . . No work done at all, because the force doesn't move through a distance.
Work done = (force) times (distance)
If the force doesn't move, then the distance is zero, and the work done is zero.

Answered by AL2006 | 2024-06-10

Work in physics is done when a force causes an object to move a certain distance, following the formula Work = Force × Distance. Situations where work is done include lifting objects with various forces, while standing still or pushing against an immovable object involves no work done since there is no movement. Thus, work is defined by the necessity of both force and movement in the same direction.
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Answered by AL2006 | 2025-01-30