Lily G.

asked • 07/30/17

If an object has energy, can it also have work?

If an object has energy, can it also have work? Explain

Philip P.

tutor
An object does not "have" work, it performs work.  Work is the transfer of energy from one object to another.  So if an object has energy, it is capable of transferring some or all of that energy to another object; that is, it is capable of performing work.
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07/30/17

Philip P.

tutor
Another point - energy is often defined as "the capacity to perform work".  Hence if an object has energy, it has the capacity to perform work.
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07/30/17

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Arturo O. answered • 07/30/17

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An object does not have work.  But if it has energy, it has the potential to do work.  Work is a projection of applied force along a displacement.  If the object applied a force on a second object and caused that object to move, it performed work on the second object.  But the first object does not possess work.
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