Work and Power - Overview
Work is that process in which due to the application of force the energy is transferred in order to cause motion of the object. While if we talk about power, it is considered as the amount of energy transferred per unit of time. Work done by all the forces Iis going to be equal to it'd change on kinetic energy. The SI unit of work is joule whereas the SI unit of power is referred to as Watt or Joule per second.
Power can also be mentioned in the terms of work done only if the work done is by constant power. Then only we can write power as work done per unit time. Otherwise, you have to use power to be changed in energy, per unit time. In this article provided to you by Vedantu, you will come across a number of formulas and theories that will help you to find out the difference between work and power. This article explains to you about work vs Power, the difference between work and power, what is work? when work is said to be done, and at last, you are provided by did you know concept and frequently asked questions that will help you to clear all your queries related to this topic of work and power. Vedantu always provides you with the best, so that students can increase their capabilities and improve their performance by getting a detailed knowledge of all the concepts. Now, let's have a look at this article.
Work vs Power
In our day to today life, we use these terms work and energy as randomly as possible. Though people who are not familiar with the scientific meaning of these most often used terms related to energy. In this article, we will learn about the major difference between work and power, and we will compare and contrast work and power. To understand the difference between work and power we must first understand the concept of energy in detail. One of the important differences between work and power is the meaning of these two. We know that work is the energy required to displace an object from its position whereas power is the rate of doing work. Along with this due to the same, there is a difference in their units also as for the power it is joule per second while for the work done it is simply Joule. Energy is something that you need to perform work. You have often heard that energy is exhausted or destroyed, but this SI is not possible. Energy cannot be destroyed, it is just transferred from one form to the other and the work done is the same, that is the force that you apply to change energy. Remember energy is always converted from one firm to another but can not be destroyed.
Differences Between Power and Work
Physics has many technical and practical theories, which can be witnessed in day-to-day life, the movements of anybody, or objects. Physics elaborates all the relevant points of movements with respect to nature, force, etc... Science has been considered to be the most practical subject of all time, as it trusts in what is present in the universe and not the hypothetical thought. Science is the oldest concept in the world, it has always persisted since the times of early human life to the 21st century, and the only difference could be the acknowledgment of it.
The difference between work and power or the difference between power and work is the amount and rate of energy used. Work and power might appear similar to each other as both involve energy but they have differences, in scientific terms. There are mainly 5 differences between work and power that one should always remember while discussing the terms work and power or if we want to differentiate between work and power.
Before we explain the difference between work and power, let us have a look at what we mean by the terms work and power individually.
What is Work?
Now, what is work? Work and Energy are the two terms frequently used in everyday life. We know that both work and energy are two interrelated topics that play an important role in the world. Before understanding the scientific meaning of Work in the context of physics, in general, we can say Work is just Energy transferred by force.
Whenever we exert force on an object or a body, it is evident that there will always be some changes, if you push a box placed on the floor it will move, which can be put forward by saying, a force was applied resulting in work. To lift a box or open a closed door, all we are doing is spending some energy which is depending on the amount of force applied, in other words, the amount of energy required to push the box or lift the box from the ground.
Work Done
Work done is defined as, when an external force is exerted on a body in steady motion (or at rest), it will experience some displacement, this action is termed as the work is done.
Work is said to be done when:
There is an external force acting on the object under consideration.
The force must result in displacement, the object should be displaced from its actual position i.e., net displacement should not be zero.
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Work done can be mathematically expressed as follows,
W = Force × displacement
W = F. ds = Fds Cos θ
Where, F - External force applied
ds - Small displacement
θ - Angle between Force applied and the displacement
Now let us see what power is? So, the power of a source is the rate of doing work. It can be defined as the rate at which energy is consumed. The definition of power in physics is different from how it is used in the context of regular life.
The SI unit of power is Watt (W). In the case of mechanical machines or motor vehicles, the SI unit is different and is measured in horsepower (hp). Watt can be observed in daily life as a unit of electricity as well. This implies that electricity is a form of power. The main benefit of understanding power is, the power of a body decides how quickly work could be done, it is interrelated with work. But power is more used in regular life when compared to work. Power refers to the rate at which work can be done, it can be either slow or fast. Whenever work is done the man or the machine uses its power in order to get the work completed.
The Factors that Affect the Power of An Object is:
The total work is done by the object.
Time consumed in doing that work.
Power is defined as the rate of energy consumed, so when power is calculated it is dependent on the work and how much time has taken to accomplish it.
There is an average power which signifies the energy spent divided by the total time taken. The average amount of work done or energy consumed per unit of time. Therefore, the power can be calculated by using the formula given below
⇒ P = W/t
Where W - The total work done
t - Time consumed by the object
After understanding what work and power are individually it is easy to differentiate work from power. Now, let us have look at major work and power differences.
Distinguish Between Work and Power
Did You Know
Power can be altered so to measure the standard power it is either calculated at a given instant of time or by estimating the average power? Some illustrations of power are: 100 Watt power bulbs spend 100 Joules of energy or a car speeding which does work and consumes large amounts of fuel, etc…
Conclusion
Both works have been done and energy is important in our day-to-day life because it's basic. In daily life, you need the energy to perform a task and that task is work. Whenever work is done there is a definite change in energy and for the work done you are required to have power. Only power can help you to do some work. Energy is necessary for any work you do whether you get up from bed, do your daily routine which obviously is workforce and for that also you are required to have power.
FAQs on Difference Between Work and Power for JEE Main 2024
1. What is the Difference Between Momentum and Inertia?
The major difference between inertia and momentum is inertia is a term referred to as the state of rest and momentum term refers to the state of motion. Inertia refers to that state where there is no motion in the body or an object while if we talk about the momentum this itself is derived from the word moment momentum indicates moment. Inertia can be considered as an object's resistance to change in motion. In other words, you can say that momentum is the force that puts you in a certain kind of motion but 5ge inertia is the one that keeps you moving in that particular state.
2. What is the Definition of Power and Work?
Work is defined as the work done by an object is equal to the scalar product of force and displacement and The power of a source is defined as the rate of doing work. Work done is actually the change in energy while power can be defined as the change in energy per unit time or describing the power in terms of work you can say that it is work done per unit time. The SI unit of work is joule while that of power is joule per second or Watt.
3. What is the relationship between work and power?
Work done is the energy needed to apply a force so that a particular task can be performed whereas we’d we talk about power then it is the work done per unit time or change in energy per unit time. Power can be defined in the term of work done only when power applied to the object is constant. Work and power both can be expressed by using the SI units of work. For work its SI unit is joule and for power, its SI unit is work done per unit time for work done per second.
4. How does work done affect the power?
Work done and power both are affected by time. This is because for the same amount of work power and time both are inversely proportional to it. The equation of the power suggests that a more powerful engine can do the same amount of work in less time as compared to the less powerful engine. This indicates that some people normally can do the same amount in less time while others can do the same work in more time, this depends upon the power they hold. The one who is more powerful will take less time to complete the work as compared to the one who is less powerful.
5. What is the difference between work, power, and energy in all?
Work done is the amount of change in energy when there is an application of force. While energy is something that you require to perform work energy can never be destroyed it can be transferred from one form of energy to another form only while talking about the power it is changed in energy per unit time all the three can be expressed in Joules. Both energy and work are done in joule whereas power is joule per second because it indicates the amount of work done per unit time.