Re: Pb

[Andy Dougherty <doughera@LAFAYETTE.EDU>]

On Fri, 9 Mar 2001, Jim Green wrote:

> Suppose I drop a piece of lead. The Earth, via gravity, does positive work
> on the lead and increases its KE.  OK?  The lead hits the floor; the flood
> does negative work on the lead; the lead halts. KE->0  OK? Does Wgravity =
> Wfloor?

Yes, if you define W_floor such that it equals W_gravity.
No,  if you define W_floor such that it does not equal W_gravity.

Defining "The Work" done by one deformable object on another deformable
object is a tricky business that tends to generate a lot of "heat" on this
list but usually very little light.  Do we really need to go there again
so soon after our last trek down this path?

--
    Andy Dougherty              doughera@lafayette.edu
    Dept. of Physics
    Lafayette College, Easton PA 18042