There is a difference in the way we use the term ‘work’ in day-to-day life and the way we use it in science. To make this point clear let us consider a few examples.
`ulbb"NOT MUCH ‘WORK’ IN SPITE OF WORKING HARD"`
Kamali is preparing for examinations. She spends lot of time in studies. She reads books, draws diagrams, organises her thoughts, collects question papers, attends classes, discusses problems with her friends, and performs experiments.
She expends a lot of energy on these activities. In common parlance, she is ‘working hard’. All this ‘hard work’ may involve very little ‘work’ if we go by the scientific definition of work.
You are working hard to push a huge rock. Let us say the rock does not move despite all the effort. You get completely exhausted. However, you have not done any work on the rock as there is no displacement of the rock.
You stand still for a few minutes with a heavy load on your head. You get tired. You have exerted yourself and have spent quite a bit of your energy. Are you doing work on the load?
The way we understand the term ‘work’ in science, work is not done.
You climb up the steps of a staircase and reach the second floor of a building just to see the landscape from there. You may even climb up a tall tree. If we apply the scientific definition, these activities involve a lot of work.
In day-to-day life, we consider any useful physical or mental labour as work. Activities like playing in a field, talking with friends, humming a tune, watching a movie, attending a function are sometimes not considered to be work.
What constitutes ‘work’ depends on the way we define it. We use and define the term work differently in science. To understand this let us do the following activities:
Activity _____________ `11.1`
♦ We have discussed in the above paragraphs a number of activities which we normally consider to be work in day-to-day life. For each of these activities, ask the following questions and answer them:
i) What is the work being done on?
(ii) What is happening to the object?
(iii) Who (what) is doing the work?
There is a difference in the way we use the term ‘work’ in day-to-day life and the way we use it in science. To make this point clear let us consider a few examples.
`ulbb"NOT MUCH ‘WORK’ IN SPITE OF WORKING HARD"`
Kamali is preparing for examinations. She spends lot of time in studies. She reads books, draws diagrams, organises her thoughts, collects question papers, attends classes, discusses problems with her friends, and performs experiments.
She expends a lot of energy on these activities. In common parlance, she is ‘working hard’. All this ‘hard work’ may involve very little ‘work’ if we go by the scientific definition of work.
You are working hard to push a huge rock. Let us say the rock does not move despite all the effort. You get completely exhausted. However, you have not done any work on the rock as there is no displacement of the rock.
You stand still for a few minutes with a heavy load on your head. You get tired. You have exerted yourself and have spent quite a bit of your energy. Are you doing work on the load?
The way we understand the term ‘work’ in science, work is not done.
You climb up the steps of a staircase and reach the second floor of a building just to see the landscape from there. You may even climb up a tall tree. If we apply the scientific definition, these activities involve a lot of work.
In day-to-day life, we consider any useful physical or mental labour as work. Activities like playing in a field, talking with friends, humming a tune, watching a movie, attending a function are sometimes not considered to be work.
What constitutes ‘work’ depends on the way we define it. We use and define the term work differently in science. To understand this let us do the following activities:
Activity _____________ `11.1`
♦ We have discussed in the above paragraphs a number of activities which we normally consider to be work in day-to-day life. For each of these activities, ask the following questions and answer them:
i) What is the work being done on?
(ii) What is happening to the object?
(iii) Who (what) is doing the work?