Work Calculator

In physics, work is done on an object when a force moves it through a displacement. It is not just the size of the force that matters but also the direction: only the component of the force acting along the direction of motion does work. The formula is W = Fd cos(θ), where F is the force in newtons, d is the displacement in metres, and θ is the angle between the force vector and the direction of motion. At zero degrees the force and motion are perfectly aligned and all of it goes into doing work. At 90 degrees the force is entirely perpendicular, no work is done at all, which is why a person carrying a heavy bag horizontally does no work on the bag, even though they are exerting a force. This calculator offers two modes. In the first you enter the force, the displacement, and the angle, and it returns the work in joules and kilojoules along with the effective force component along the direction of travel. In the second mode, applying the work-energy theorem, you enter the mass and the initial and final speeds, and it returns the net work done as the change in kinetic energy. The two modes reinforce each other: if you calculate work by one method and check it by the other you get the same number when all forces are accounted for. The default example uses F = 50 N, d = 10 m, and θ = 30 degrees, giving W = 50 times 10 times cos(30) = 433.01 J. Use this calculator for physics homework, for engineering problems involving force and displacement, or to understand the relationship between work and energy.

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Work = force x displacement x cos(angle). At 0 deg full force acts; at 90 deg no work is done. Results in joules and kilojoules, rounded for display.