Editing Work (physics) (section)

==History==

The [[Ancient Greek technology|ancient Greek understanding of physics]] was limited to the [[statics]] of simple machines (the balance of forces), and did not include [[Dynamics (mechanics)|dynamics]] or the concept of work. During the [[Renaissance]] the dynamics of the ''Mechanical Powers'', as the [[simple machine]]s were called, began to be studied from the standpoint of how far they could lift a load, in addition to the force they could apply, leading eventually to the new concept of mechanical work. The complete dynamic theory of simple machines was worked out by Italian scientist [[Galileo Galilei]] in 1600 in ''Le Meccaniche'' (''On Mechanics''), in which he showed the underlying mathematical similarity of the machines as force amplifiers.<ref name="Krebs">{{cite book
  | last=Krebs
  | first=Robert E.
  | title=Groundbreaking Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages
  | year=2004
  | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group
  | isbn=978-0-313-32433-8
  | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MTXdplfiz-cC&q=%22mechanics+Galileo+analyzed%22&pg=PA163
  | access-date=2008-05-21
  | page=163}}</ref><ref name="Stephen">{{cite book
  | last = Stephen
  | first = Donald
  | author2=Lowell Cardwell
  | title = Wheels, clocks, and rockets: a history of technology
  | publisher = W.W. Norton & Company
  | year = 2001
  | location = US
  | pages = 85–87
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BSfpFLV1nkAC&q=%22simple+machine%22+galileo&pg=PA86
  | isbn = 978-0-393-32175-3}}</ref> He was the first to explain that simple machines do not create energy, only transform it.<ref name="Krebs" />

=== Early concepts of work ===
Although ''work'' was not formally used until 1826, similar concepts existed before then. Early names for the same concept included ''moment of activity, quantity of action, latent live force, dynamic effect, efficiency'', and even ''force''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mendelson |first=Kenneth S. |date=2003-02-13 |title=Physical and colloquial meanings of the term "work" |url=https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.1522707 |journal=American Journal of Physics |language=en |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=279–281 |doi=10.1119/1.1522707 |bibcode=2003AmJPh..71..279M |issn=0002-9505}}</ref> In 1637, the French philosopher [[René Descartes]] wrote:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Descartes |first=R. |url=https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/descartes1619.pdf |title=Selected correspondence of Descartes |year=2013 |editor-last=Bennett |editor-first=J. |pages=50 |orig-date=Letter to Huygens, Oct 5, 1637}}</ref> 
{{Blockquote|text=Lifting 100 lb one foot twice over is the same as lifting 200 lb one foot, or 100 lb two feet.|author=René Descartes|source=Letter to Huygens}}
In 1686, the German philosopher [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Gottfried Leibniz]] wrote:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Iltis |first=C. |date=1971 |title=Leibniz and the vis viva controversy |url=https://nature.berkeley.edu/departments/espm/env-hist/articles/2.pdf |journal=Isis |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=21–35 (specifically p. 24)|doi=10.1086/350705 |s2cid=143652761 }}</ref> 
{{Blockquote|text=The same force ["work" in modern terms] is necessary to raise body A of 1 pound (libra) to a height of 4 yards (ulnae), as is necessary to raise body B of 4 pounds to a height of 1 yard.|author=Gottfried Leibniz|title=Brevis demonstratio}}
In 1759, [[John Smeaton]] described a quantity that he called "power" "to signify the exertion of strength, gravitation, impulse, or pressure, as to produce motion." Smeaton continues that this quantity can be calculated if "the weight raised is multiplied by the height to which it can be raised in a given time," making this definition remarkably similar to [[Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis|Coriolis]]'s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smeaton |first=John |date=1759 |title=Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills and Other Machines Depending on a Circular Motion |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society |volume=51 |pages=105 |doi=10.1098/rstl.1759.0019 |s2cid=186213498|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Etymology and modern usage===
The term ''work'' (or ''mechanical work''), and the use of the [[Work_(physics)#Work–energy_principle|work-energy principle]] in mechanics, was introduced in the late 1820s independently by French mathematician [[Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis]] and French Professor of Applied Mechanics [[Jean-Victor Poncelet]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Coriolis| first=Gustave| date=1829|title=Calculation of the Effect of Machines, or Considerations on the Use of Engines and their Evaluation | publisher=Carilian-Goeury, Libraire (Paris)|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1068268/f2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Poncelet|first=Jean-Victor|title=Introduction a la mécanique industrielle, physique ou expérimentale|date=1839|url={{Google books|Cx1mAAAAcAAJ|page=PR10||plainurl=yes}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grattan-Guinness |first1=Ivor |date=1984|title=Work for the workers: Advances in engineering mechanics and instruction in France, 1800–1830 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00033798400200101 |journal=Annals of Science |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=1–33 |doi=10.1080/00033798400200101 |access-date=2024-12-21}}</ref> Both scientists were pursuing a view of mechanics suitable for studying the dynamics and power of machines, for example [[steam engine]]s lifting buckets of water out of flooded ore mines. According to Rene Dugas, French engineer and historian, it is to [[Salomon de Caus|Solomon of Caux]] "that we owe the term ''work'' in the sense that it is used in mechanics now".<ref>{{cite book |last=Dugas |first=R. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmachani000518mbp |title=A History of Mechanics |publisher=Éditions du Griffon |year=1955 |location=Switzerland |pages=128}}</ref> The concept of [[virtual work]], and the use of [[Calculus_of_variations|variational methods]] in mechanics, preceded the introduction of "mechanical work" but was originally called "virtual moment". It was re-named once the terminology of Poncelet and Coriolis was adopted.<ref>{{cite book| last=Poncelet| first=Jean Victor| date=1826|title=Cours de mécanique appliquée aux machines |url={{Google books|a_4JAAAAIAAJ|page=RA3-PA10|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Coriolis| first=Gustave| date=1829|title=Calculation of the Effect of Machines, or Considerations on the Use of Engines and their Evaluation | publisher=Carilian-Goeury, Libraire (Paris)|url={{Google books|Y2USAAAAIAAJ|page=PR9-IA10|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref>