Work & Power Calculator
Calculate mechanical work and power from force, distance and time.
Assumptions used in this calculation
- Force parallel to motion: Assumes the applied force is parallel to the direction of motion, and that force is constant over the distance travelled.
About this calculator
Work and power are often used loosely as synonyms in everyday language, but in physics they measure different things, total energy transferred versus the rate at which it's transferred, and confusing the two leads to errors when comparing, say, two machines that do the same job in different amounts of time. This calculator computes mechanical work (Work = Force × distance, in joules) and average power (Power = Work ÷ time, in watts) from a force applied over a distance in a given time, assuming the force acts in the same direction as the motion. It's useful for physics coursework, estimating how much power a motor or person needs to move a load over a distance in a target time, or comparing the efficiency of two different approaches to the same task, since it separates out the energy-versus-rate distinction that's easy to blur when working through a word problem manually.
Worked example
50N over 10m in 5 seconds
Result: 500 J, 100 W
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