BIOL 1201 Chapter : Work And Energy
Document Summary
In a somewhat circular set of definitions, work is the transfer of energy and energy is the ability to do work. In accelerating a baseball from rest to some final speed, you must apply a force to the baseball through some acceleration distance. In the end, you"ve given something to the baseball by increasing its speed. That something is stored energy from your body you"ve given to the baseball by doing some positive work on it, and the resulting energy possessed by the baseball is of the kinetic variety. In the converse case, a catcher slowing a thrown baseball to rest must do negative work on the ball to pull its kinetic energy out. Unfortunately for the catcher, that removed energy is transferred into heat and can"t be saved for later use. In all cases, it is impossible to exert a force into a direction of distance without doing some amount of work in the process.
