Work (physics)

Work is energy transferred to or from an object when a force causes displacement. For a constant force, it equals the force component along the displacement multiplied by the distance.

Work–energy theorem: The theorem stating that the net work on an object equals its change in kinetic energy. It connects the total work on an object directly to its change in motion.
Force: An interaction that can change an object's motion or deform it. A force is the agent that can transfer energy through work.
Heat: Energy transferred between systems because of a temperature difference. Heat and work are distinct ways energy crosses a system boundary.
Gravitational potential energy: Energy associated with an object's position in a gravitational field. Lifting an object against gravity requires work that increases this energy.
Dot product: An operation on vectors that yields a scalar equal to the product of their magnitudes and the cosine of their angle. It captures why only the force component parallel to displacement contributes to work.
Energy: A conserved physical quantity that can be transferred or transformed and is associated with the capacity to cause change. Work quantifies one way energy moves between systems.
Pressure–volume work: Work associated with expansion or compression when a system's volume changes against pressure. It is a thermodynamic form of work expressed through pressure and volume change.
Elastic potential energy: Energy stored when an elastic object is deformed. Work done stretching or compressing a spring can be stored as elastic energy.
Displacement: The vector change in an object's position from its initial point to its final point. Work depends on the object's displacement, not the total length of its path.
Newton's laws of motion: Three foundational laws relating the motion of bodies to forces acting on them. They explain how forces produce the acceleration involved in many work calculations.

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