Example 1
A 50 N force acting along a 3 m displacement does 150 J of work.
Mendeleev
Physics tools
All toolsElements
EnglishEN⌄
Languages
EnglishENFrançaisFRDeutschDEEspañolESItalianoITPortuguêsPTNederlandsNLPolskiPLSvenskaSVČeštinaCSDanskDANorskNOSuomiFITürkçeTRРусскийRUУкраїнськаUK中文ZH日本語JAБългарскиBGCatalàCAΕλληνικάELEestiETHrvatskiHRMagyarHULëtzebuergeschLBLietuviųLTLatviešuLVRomânăROSlovenčinaSKSlovenščinaSLСрпскиSR한국어KOTiếng ViệtVIBahasa IndonesiaIDBahasa MelayuMSالعربيةARहिन्दीHIไทยTHעבריתHEÍslenskaIS
Physics tools › Work done by a force
Mendeleev · Physics
Work done by a force
Only the component of the force along the displacement does work. A force perpendicular to the motion gives zero work; a force opposite the motion gives negative work.
Formula usedW = Fd cos θ
Calculate
Work done by a force
What do the symbols mean?
Wwork
Fforce
ddistance
θangle
Two worked examples
Example 2
With the same force and displacement at 60°, W = 50 × 3 × cos 60° = 75 J.
Good to knowWork is conventionally written W.