Question

An oil company included in its advertising the following phrase: "Energy - not just a force, its power!" In technical usage, what are the differences among the terms energy, force, and power?

Short answer

Examining the units of each quantity is an easy technique to find the differences.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of energy

Energy is the quantity that must be delivered to a body or physical system in order to perform work on it or heat it.

It can take many forms, including potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical, chemical, radioactive, and others.

Finding the differences among the terms

Here are a few definitions of these terms (or quantities) that can assist us in determining their differences.

Force: the push or pull experienced by an object when an external force acts on it is known as force. It is expressed in terms of Newton.

This concept of force is explained by Newton’s first law of motion which states that if a body is at rest it will remain at rest, if a body is in motion it will remain in motion unless it is compelled by any external force.

Energy:Energy is defined as the capacity of doing a work. It is expressed in joules [J]

Power:Power is defined as the amount of energy which is consumed when work is done in per unit time, power is measured in watts W

Therefore, the units of each quantity are an easy technique to find the differences.