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The joule (/ dʒ uː l / JOOL, or / dʒ aʊ l / JOWL; symbol: J) is the unit of energy in the International System of Units (SI). [1] It is equal to the amount of work done when a force of one newton displaces a mass through a distance of one metre in the direction of that force.
The ancient Greek understanding of physics was limited to the statics of simple machines (the balance of forces), and did not include dynamics or the concept of work. During the Renaissance the dynamics of the Mechanical Powers, as the simple machines were called, began to be studied from the standpoint of how far they could lift a load, in addition to the force they could apply, leading ...
Energy is defined via work, so the SI unit of energy is the same as the unit of work – the joule (J), named in honour of James Prescott Joule [1] and his experiments on the mechanical equivalent of heat. In slightly more fundamental terms, 1 joule is equal to 1 newton metre and, in terms of SI base units
Thermodynamic work is one of the principal kinds of process by which a thermodynamic system can interact with and transfer energy to its surroundings. This results in externally measurable macroscopic forces on the system's surroundings, which can cause mechanical work, to lift a weight, for example, [1] or cause changes in electromagnetic, [2] [3] [4] or gravitational [5] variables.
In particular Joule had experimented on the amount of mechanical work generated by friction needed to raise the temperature of a pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit and found a consistent value of 778.24 foot pound force (4.1550 J·cal −1). Joule contended that motion and heat were mutually interchangeable and that, in every case, a given ...
J: Mach number (or mach) M: Ratio of flow velocity to the local speed of sound unitless: 1: Magnetic flux: Φ: Measure of magnetism, taking account of the strength and the extent of a magnetic field: weber (Wb) L 2 M T −2 I −1: scalar Mass fraction: x: Mass of a substance as a fraction of the total mass kg/kg 1: intensive (Mass) Density (or ...
The work can be done, for example, by electrochemical devices (electrochemical cells) or different metals junctions [clarification needed] generating an electromotive force. Electric field work is formally equivalent to work by other force fields in physics, [1] and the formalism for electrical work is identical to that of mechanical work.
The erg is a unit of energy equal to 10 −7 joules (100 nJ). It is not an SI unit, instead originating from the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). Its name is derived from ergon (ἔργον), a Greek word meaning 'work' or 'task'. [1] An erg is the amount of work done by a force of one dyne exerted for a distance of one centimetre.