Question

In a tug of war, will the work done by a winning team be positive or negative?

Answer 1

Definition of work done

When a body moves through a certain distance under the effect of a force applied to it, work is said to be done. It is given as,

$W=FS$

where, $F$ is force and $S$ is the distance

Explaining if work done by a winning team in a tug of war will be positive or negative

1. In a tug of war, the winning team applies force on the losing team and is successful in moving the losing team through a distance.
2. The winning team pulls the rope towards itself and the losing team also moves towards the winning team.
3. Since the force applied is in the same direction as the direction of motion, the work done is positive.

Therefore, in a tug of war, work done by a winning team is positive.