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Work with Variable Force

Force in everyday life is usually not a constant force. So far, when we have discussed work done, we have assumed that the force is constant. What happens if the force is variable? The figure below is a graph of varying force in one dimension.

 

Let us first understand how do we find work done from a graph. If we are talking about a constant force, the area under the graph (which will be a rectangle) gives us the work done.