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In the case of work done against friction, the internal energy change is independent of the velocity (or inertial reference frame) of the observer. That is, different observers would assign the same quantity of mechanical energy transformed into internal energy due to friction. How can this be explained, considering that such observers measure different quantities of total work done and different changes in kinetic energy in general?

In the case of work done against friction, the internal energy change is independent of the velocity (or inertial reference frame) of the observer. That is, different observers would assign the same quantity of mechanical energy transformed into internal energy due to friction. How can this be explained, considering that such observers measure different quantities of total work done and different changes in kinetic energy in general?

Grade:11

1 Answers

Kevin Nash
askIITians Faculty 332 Points
8 years ago
The frictional force acting on a sliding surface is not a single force acting at a single point, but is instead due to many smaller forces acting at various surface points. In the case of work done against friction, the internal energy change is independent of the velocity of the observer. The frictional process as one in which, depending on how we define the system boundary, energy can be transferred between the objects within a system or between the system and its environment, in either case changing the internal energy of the objects. Without a microscopic model we do not know how the total gain in internal energy is shared among the objects in the system, and we therefore cannot calculate the work done by the frictional force that is responsible for this transformation.

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