The idea of work done can be extremely useful when designing machines that make life easier and sometimes even enable us to do things that are "impossible". For example, it is fair to say that most humans are not capable of lifting masses of a tonne (1000 kg) or more. And yet that is indeed … Continue reading Forces moving forces
Levers and Gears
We have covered the theory of work done so now it’s time to look at some simple machines that trade force against distance to make tasks easier than they would otherwise be. In this post we will look at levers and gears, which "magnify" forces by moving a smaller force through a larger distance. This … Continue reading Levers and Gears
Work Done and GPE
The basics of energy stores and transfers are covered in a separate post (click here to refresh your memory if necessary). We now need to think specifically about ways in which energy can be transferred by the action of forces. For the purposes of GCSE Physics, we will restrict our thoughts to mechanical forces but … Continue reading Work Done and GPE
