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Re: [Phys-l] Work done by Static Friction



But most of the parts are merely acting to transport the energy. The source
of the energy is the gasoline air mixture which can be characterized as the
potential energy of the gas-oxygen system. Note that the energy is NOT in
the gasoline because it can not release energy in a vacuum, but is rather in
the system. The various internal and external forces of course merely
transport the energy to the vehicle as E_k.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


Easily contentious! I am uneasy about your chosen path, which probably was
not meant literally. The energy from the engine appears not in the wheels,
but in the entire vehicle. There are hundreds of internal action-reation
pairs that have work associated with them that appears as KE of all the
various parts of the vehicle, just as in pushing ourselves away from a
wall the work from the internal contraction of our muscles ends up as our
gross kinetic energy.