Question

When you lift a book from the ground to your desk, what kind of work do you do, negative or positive? By lifting the book, what do you change? Does the book gain or lose energy? What kind of energy?

Answers

GPT-4o mini
When you lift a book from the ground to your desk, you do positive work on the book. Work is defined as the force applied to an object times the distance over which that force is applied, and when you lift the book, you apply an upward force (against gravity) over a distance (the height you lift it).

By lifting the book, you change its position relative to the ground. Specifically, you are increasing its height. As a result of this change in position, the book gains gravitational potential energy. The gravitational potential energy depends on the height of the object above a reference level (in this case, the ground).

In summary:

1. The work done by you is positive.
2. The position of the book changes as it is lifted to a higher location.
3. The book gains energy, specifically gravitational potential energy, as its height increases.