Work

From Glossary of Meteorology



work

A form of energy arising from the motion of a system against a force, existing only in the process of energy conversion.

Many forms of work (electrical, chemical, etc.) may be defined by analogy with mechanical work, but in meteorology the most frequently useful mathematical expression is that for the work per unit mass w done by a gaseous system in a given reversible process from thermodynamic state s1 to state s2:
ams2001glos-We12
where p is the pressure of the system and α its specific volume. The amount of work done will be a function of the particular process as well as of the initial and final states.
See heat, first law of thermodynamics.


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