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Power is the rate with respect to time at which work is done; it is the time derivative of work: =, where P is power, W is work, and t is time.. We will now show that the mechanical power generated by a force F on a body moving at the velocity v can be expressed as the product: = =
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 ...
There are various types of potential energy, each associated with a particular type of force. For example, the work of an elastic force is called elastic potential energy; work of the gravitational force is called gravitational potential energy; work of the Coulomb force is called electric potential energy; work of the strong nuclear force or weak nuclear force acting on the baryon charge is ...
Newton's laws are often stated in terms of point or particle masses, that is, bodies whose volume is negligible. This is a reasonable approximation for real bodies when the motion of internal parts can be neglected, and when the separation between bodies is much larger than the size of each.
The force, therefore, is related directly to the difference in potential energy between two different locations in space, [56] and can be considered to be an artifact of the potential field in the same way that the direction and amount of a flow of water can be considered to be an artifact of the contour map of the elevation of an area.
In physics, Hooke's law is an empirical law which states that the force (F) needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance (x) scales linearly with respect to that distance—that is, F s = kx, where k is a constant factor characteristic of the spring (i.e., its stiffness), and x is small compared to the total possible deformation of the spring.
The generalized force, X, corresponding to the external parameter x is defined such that is the work performed by the system if x is increased by an amount dx. E.g., if x is the volume, then X is the pressure. The generalized force for a system known to be in energy eigenstate is given by:
The dichotomy between kinetic energy and potential energy can be traced back to Aristotle's concepts of actuality and potentiality. [3] The principle of classical mechanics that E ∝ mv 2 is conserved was first developed by Gottfried Leibniz and Johann Bernoulli, who described kinetic energy as the living force or vis viva.