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The principle of conservation of mechanical energy states that if an isolated system is subject only to conservative forces, then the mechanical energy is constant. If an object moves in the opposite direction of a conservative net force, the potential energy will increase; and if the speed (not the velocity ) of the object changes, the kinetic ...
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 ...
The forces acting on a body add as vectors, and so the total force on a body depends upon both the magnitudes and the directions of the individual forces. [23]: 58 When the net force on a body is equal to zero, then by Newton's second law, the body does not accelerate, and it is said to be in mechanical equilibrium.
A conservative force that acts on a closed system has an associated mechanical work that allows energy to convert only between kinetic or potential forms. This means that for a closed system, the net mechanical energy is conserved whenever a conservative force acts on the system.
The term conservative force comes from the fact that when a conservative force exists, it conserves mechanical energy. The most familiar conservative forces are gravity, the electric force (in a time-independent magnetic field, see Faraday's law), and spring force. Many forces (particularly those that depend on velocity) are not force fields ...
The concept of "net force" comes into play when you look at the total effect of all of these forces on the body. However, the net force alone may not necessarily preserve the motion of the body. This is because, besides the net force, the 'torque' or rotational effect associated with these forces also matters. The net force must be applied at ...
The normal force N is equal, opposite, and collinear to the gravitational force mg so the net force and moment is zero. Consequently, the object is in a state of static mechanical equilibrium. In classical mechanics, a particle is in mechanical equilibrium if the net force on that particle is zero.
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.