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WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Normal Forces Can Do Work

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angle α in degrees
35
u
time
This Demonstration illustrates the fact that a normal force can do work in moving reference frames. A system consisting of a block sliding on a wedge at angle
α
is seen in an inertial reference frame
S'
that moves to the left with speed
u
with respect to the reference frame
S
in which the block and the wedge are at rest. In
S'
the normal force is not perpendicular to the trajectory and thus does work. Only in the case of
u=0
, when the normal force is perpendicular to the trajectory, does the work vanish.
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