Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 ...
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.
By the principle of minimum energy, there are a number of other state functions which may be defined which have the dimensions of energy and which are minimized according to the second law under certain conditions other than constant entropy. These are called thermodynamic potentials. For each such potential, the relevant fundamental equation ...
The work done on the system is defined and measured by changes in mechanical or quasi-mechanical variables external to the system. Physically, adiabatic transfer of energy as work requires the existence of adiabatic enclosures. For instance, in Joule's experiment, the initial system is a tank of water with a paddle wheel inside.
A unit of electrical energy, particularly for utility bills, is the kilowatt-hour (kWh); [3] one kilowatt-hour is equivalent to 3.6 megajoules. Electricity usage is often given in units of kilowatt-hours per year or other periods. [4] This is a measurement of average power consumption, meaning the average rate at which energy is transferred ...
In the history of science, the mechanical equivalent of heat states that motion and heat are mutually interchangeable and that in every case, a given amount of work would generate the same amount of heat, provided the work done is totally converted to heat energy.
The photoelectric work function is the minimum photon energy required to liberate an electron from a substance, in the photoelectric effect. If the photon's energy is greater than the substance's work function, photoelectric emission occurs and the electron is liberated from the surface. Similar to the thermionic case described above, the ...
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: = =