58 Doing Work-Mid

Doing Work Written by Ned Jensen

"I have to do my work!" "Let's try to work harder!" "Work, work, work. That is all I do." Have you ever heard these sayings?

People do work every day. But what is work? This book is about work. It is about what work means. In science, work has a special meaning. In science, work means moving something.

You do work when you move something. You do work when you push or pull a wagon down a street. You do work when you lift books. You even do work when you turn the pages of a book. When you do these things you are moving something.

You don't do work when you just push against a rock. The rock doesn't move. You don't do work when you think a lot. Thinking doesn't move anything. You don't do work if nothing moves.

It takes force to move something. You use force to push and pull a sled. You use force to lift books. You use force when you twist or turn a doorknob. All these forces make something move.