In everyday language, the term ‘work’ often refers to any physical or mental effort. However, in physics, the term ‘work’ has a very specific meaning. Work is the product of the component of the force in the direction of the displacement and the magnitude of this displacement.

Scientific Conception of Work

In physics, work is defined as the process of energy transfer to an object via a force causing the object to move. For work to be done, two main conditions must be met:

1.Force: A force must be applied to the object.

2.Displacement: The object must move in the direction of the applied force.

Units of Work

The SI unit of work is the joule (J). One joule is defined as the amount of work done when a force of one newton displaces an object by one meter in the direction of the force: