Asked by Makayla

Is work being done in the following example?

A mother pushing a child on a swing

Work is being done.
No work is being done.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Work is being done.

Reason: work = F · s. When the mother pushes the swing she applies a force that has a component along the swing's displacement (tangent to its path), so energy is transferred to the child/swing (increasing kinetic and then potential energy). (Only in special instants where the applied force is exactly perpendicular to the displacement would the instantaneous work be zero.)