Talk:Work (physics)

dot product

When the work is first defined, the part that says:

then the work done is given by:

W = F s cos(θ)

Shouldn't it be the lengths of F and s instead of just plain F and s? 24.232.240.207 (talk) 05:48, 14 April 2024 (UTC)

Work (physics) and energy : circular definitions

Energy [...] is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the capacity to do work and in the form of heat and light.

and

work is the energy transferred to or from an object via the application of force along a displacement.

but also

Thermodynamic work is one of the principal kinds of process by which a thermodynamic system can interact with and transfer energy to its surroundings.

Which doesn't help either.
User:Ejrrjs says What? 07:20, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

umbrella term

As already categorized in Work, there is an umbrella term for the general concept of work in physics, but also in some subfields of physics some special lemmas do exist.

• Work (physics)
  • Work (electric field)
  • Work (thermodynamics)

Also "Work (magnetic)" can describe the switching of dipols in magnetic fields, which is used in magnetic resonance imaging. Further more, one can also think of "Work (chemistry)" e.g. when there is a redox-reaction as in a aluminium smelter where the electric work which is counted by an electric meter is transformed into chemical work to produce aluminium.

Above all, the current content of "Work (physics)" describes mostly "Work (mechanics)". Therefore, the description of mechanical work should be covered in a dedicated article on all the different kinds of mechanical work while physical work should describe the general concept giving an overview, while using the mechanical work as the most prominent example. ~2026-48325-58 (talk) 20:13, 10 September 2026 (UTC)