Work done by a force can be calculated by multiplying the magnitude of the force by the displacement of the object in the direction of the force. But what if there are multiple forces acting on an object? How do we calculate the total work done?

To calculate the work done by multiple forces, we use the concept of net force. Net force is the vector sum of all the individual forces acting on an object. If the net force is applied in the same direction as the displacement, the work done by each force can simply be added together.

For example, let's consider a box being pushed along a horizontal surface with a force of 10 N. At the same time, there is a frictional force of 5 N acting in the opposite direction. If the box is displaced by 2 meters in the direction of the applied force, we can calculate the work done by each force and then add them up.

The work done by the applied force is equal to the magnitude of the force multiplied by the displacement: work = force × displacement = 10 N × 2 m = 20 J. The work done by the frictional force is equal to the magnitude of the force multiplied by the displacement: work = force × displacement = 5 N × 2 m = 10 J. Adding these two values together, we find that the total work done by the multiple forces is 30 J.