Work

Definition

In physics, work is the amount of energy transferred or converted by a force acting over a distance. It's measured in Joules.

Related terms

Force: This is any interaction that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. In our analogy, it's your push on the shopping cart.

Energy:

This is the capacity for doing work. You may think of it as stored potential that can be used to perform work - like how eating breakfast gives you energy to push that shopping cart.

Joule: This is the unit used to measure work or energy in physics. One joule equals one newton meter - it's like saying one full grocery trip equals X amount of pushes across Y meters.