Monday, July 7, 2014

classical mechanics - Given an initial push, is work done on an object infinite in a hypothetical empty universe?


Consider a hypothetical empty universe containing a single object. Given an initial push, will the work done by the forever moving object be infinite?



Answer



Work is done as long as the force is applied on the body, so in this case, the total work done would be the product of Force applied and the Displacement during the initial push only. If the object moves forever, it would do so with a constant velocity in this scenario, and consequentially its Kinetic Energy would be constant, implying that the work done after the initial push is zero. (Since $W=\Delta K.E$)


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