Answer #1

Work and energy may be terms we always encounter but then we are not aware that these terms can also be differentiated from each other. When we say work, we refer to the things we do everyday. When we say energy, it is the force we put in our work.

In physics, work and energy can be defined through mathematical formula. Work is the transfer of energy by exerting any force through a distance. This means that there is work if there is force and change in distance. Scientist Gaspard Coriolis gave the term work in the early 1800s. In physics, work takes the unit of joules.

Energy means an activity. In physics, it can be defines as the force which acts in a distance. It is also measured in joules. To make things clearer, energy is an ability to create work. Work is a transfer of energy but energy is the force that pushes or pulls a certain object.

Energy and work may happen if there is a change in distance. However, the direction has no specific path. An object can move sideways, upward, or downward.

Another difference is the types of energy. Energy has a lot of characteristics. It can be potential or stored, or can be renewable or non-renewable. In work, there are no other types. It only needs force and distance to make it call as work.

To define clearly, here is a situation as sample. A person who is about to carry one sack of rice will demonstrate work because he put a force to the sack and the sack moved by lifting it up. In that case there is work and energy. If a person could not carry the sack and he just keeps on pushing it without movement, then there is no work done. However, a sack has stored energy although there is no work applied.

These terms may be simple to define but if we look into their scientific explanation, we can further understand and appreciate how work differs from energy.

Answered By: shiela [67 ]