Question

What is meant by positive work, negative work and zero work? Illustrate your answer with an example?

Answer 1

Work is the energy delivered to or from an item by applying force along a displacement in physics. It is frequently expressed as the product of force and displacement in its simplest form. When applied, a force is said to produce positive work if it has a component in the direction of the point of application's displacement. If a force has a component that is opposite the direction of displacement at the point of application, it produces negative work.

Complete answer:
When a force is applied to an item, work is said to be completed.
Positive work: The work done on an item is considered to be positive work when the force and displacement are in the same direction.
Force and displacement act in the forward path as a body travels on a horizontal surface. In this scenario, the work is referred to as Positive work.
Negative work: Negative work is done when the displacement is in the opposite direction of the applied force.
Zero work: When force and displacement are perpendicular to one another or when no force or displacement exists.
When we walk with an object in our hands, the force works downward, whereas displacement works forward.

Note: Work and energy are inextricably linked. According to the work–energy principle, an increase in the kinetic energy of a rigid body is generated by an equivalent amount of positive work done on the body by the force acting on it. Conversely, a decrease in kinetic energy is caused by an equal amount of negative work done by the resultant force. As a result, if the net work is positive, the particle's kinetic energy increases by the same amount. If the total work done is negative, the particle's kinetic energy is reduced by the same amount.