Work is done when a force moves an object along its direction: W = F·d·cosθ. Drag the sliders below to change the applied force, the rope angle and the displacement, and watch the work done — and the component along the motion — respond in real time.
Pushing hard only registers as work when the push actually moves the object and lines up with the direction it travels. This simulator makes that condition visible: set the Applied force F in newtons, tilt the Rope angle θ, and stretch the Displacement d in metres, then watch the readout resolve W = F·d·cos(θ) into joules.
The key panel is the component along motion, F·cos(θ) — the only slice of your pull that does work as a crate slides across the floor. Hold the rope flat at θ = 0° and every newton goes into the drag, so work peaks. Raise it and the useful share shrinks; at θ = 90° the force stands perpendicular and cos(90°) = 0, so W collapses to nothing — the same reason gravity does zero work on a bag carried level across a room. Push past 90° and the indicator flips to negative work: the force now opposes the motion and energy leaves the object.
Drop d to zero and the answer stays zero no matter how enormous the force — push a wall that will not budge and you do no work on it, however hard you strain. Notice too that nothing here asks how long the trip took; timing belongs to power, not work. Confirm your numbers with the work and power calculator, then line up the figures behind another force-and-energy model on our physics simulation shelf.
Work is done when a force moves an object along its direction of travel: W = F·d·cos(θ), measured in joules, where θ is the angle between the force and the displacement.
When it acts perpendicular to the motion (θ = 90°, so cos θ = 0) or when there is no displacement at all. Gravity does no work on a bag carried level across a room, and pushing an immovable wall does no work on it.
Yes. When the force opposes the motion — the angle between them is between 90° and 180° — the work is negative, meaning the force removes energy from the object. Friction and braking do negative work.
No. Work is the force times the distance moved along it, independent of the time taken. How fast the work is done is a separate quantity — power.