Characteristics of work:
1. Work is defined as the force (F) multiplied by the displacemcnt (x).
– w = F.x … (1)
The – ve sign is introduced to indicate that the work has been done by the system by spending a part of its internal energy.
2. Work is a path function.
3. Work appears only at the boundary of the system.
4. Work appears during the change ¡n the state of the system.
5. Work brings a permanent effect in the surroundings.
6. Units of work: The SI unit of work is the joule (J) or Kilojoule (KJ).
7. If work done by the system, the energy of the system decreases, hence by convention work is taken to be negative (- w).
8. If work done by the system, the energy of the system increases, hence by convention work is taken to be positive (+ w).