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#98778 03/18/03 08:21 PM
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"Although not commonly *conceived as such, isn't work a formulae; weight*height*distance='foot lbs.'?"

Uh oh. Now I'm in over my head. I learned this stuff so long ago I don't know the official by God explanation any more. I can just see how it works. My daughter probably knows the formula, bein' a physics whiz and all, but I'm afraid to ask.



#98779 03/18/03 09:27 PM
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...but I'm afraid to ask.

It sounds like too much work.


#98781 03/19/03 11:03 AM
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To put it simply, in Mechanics, Work is force multiplied by distance. The Work done in lifting a weight from the ground is equal to the weight in pounds times the height lifted in feet giving an answer in foot-pounds (using old money here!). The force you exert in lifting the weight is in opposition to the vertical force of gravity that is trying to make it drop again. How far you moved the weight horizontally doesn’t affect the work done in raising it. The force used in moving horizontally has to overcome friction and air resistance. It is easier to visualise if you think of the lifting and moving actions being performed by a crane rather than by a person.


#98782 03/19/03 12:59 PM
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"It is easier to visualise if you think of the lifting and moving actions being performed by a crane rather than by a person. "

But why would any self-respecting wetlands bird waste its time lifting.... oh. Yes. Yes, you're absolutely right.


#98783 03/19/03 01:18 PM
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Cranes are good - so long as they don't block your chimney I guess. We don't get them here. We get Herons though - they're horrid - spend their time lifting my goldfish.


#98784 03/19/03 06:22 PM
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How far you moved the weight horizontally doesn’t affect the work done in raising it.

Sounds accurate, but, then... "time spent exerting the opposing force" should count... somehow...

--------

... it's the same *reason one runs to avoid time spent in the rain... assuming being 'drier' is the goal, of course.


#98785 03/19/03 06:50 PM
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>it's the same *reason one runs to avoid time spent in the rain..

but.. but.. don't you encounter more drops that way?


#98786 03/21/03 07:34 AM
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in Mechanics, Work is force multiplied by distance. That's right, but this sort of work, unfortunately is not what earns you top salaries. There would be rather more social justice if it were so.


#98787 03/21/03 05:35 PM
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but.. but.. don't you encounter more drops that way?

...not until you are moving faster than the falling rain.


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