Asked in PMC Practice Test 30 (2021) 2021Moderate

Work done by friction force is always -------

Correct answer: D. Maybe positive, maybe negative

  • A. Negative
  • B. Positive
  • C. Zero
  • D. Maybe positive, maybe negative

Explanation

Option D is correct since students must note that generally friction is considered to be a dissipative force in nature that generally acts opposite to the direction of motion of an object and tries to decrease its kinetic energy. Hence, in general, friction does negative work. However, in some special cases friction can also do positive and zero work which might not seem so intuitive at first thought.

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About Work

Work is done when a force produces displacement, with its value determined by the component of force along the displacement. The topic covers positive, negative and zero work, work by variable forces from force-displacement graphs, and the connection between net work and change in kinetic energy.

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