Question

While pulling a bicycle out of the garage, you must pull it a total of 17 m with a force of 27 N. How much work are you doing on the bicycle?

Answer 1

The Work
`W` done by a Force
`F` refers to the release of potential energy from a body that is moved by the application of that force to overcome a resistance along a path.

It should be noted that it is a scalar magnitude, and its unit in the International System of Units is the Joule. Therefore, 1 Joule is the work done by a force of 1 Newton when moving an object, in the direction of the force, along 1 meter:

`1J=(1N)(1m)=Nm`

Now, when the applied force is constant and the direction of the force and the direction of the movement are parallel, the equation to calculate it is:

`W=(F)(d)` (1)

When they are not parallel, both directions form an angle, let's call it
`\alpha`. In that case the expression to calculate the Work is:

`W=Fdcos{\alpha}` (2)

For example, in order to pull the bicycle out of the garage, you have to apply a force along the distance
`d` to overcome the resistance of the weight of the bicycle.

In this case both (the force and the distance in the path) are parallel, so the work
`W` performed is the product of the force
`F` by the distance traveled
`d`, as shown in equation (1).

Hence:

`W=(27N)(17m)`

`W=459Nm=459J`>>>>This is the work