If a ball is being lifted at a constant speed, does this mean that acceleration is 0 and therefore F=ma=0 and therefore no work is done on the ball?
It does mean that no net work is done on the ball. There might have been work applied by the lifting force to overcome both gravity and friction. If all of that work was used overcoming friction and gravity, there would be no speed change.
Thanks!
When a ball is being lifted at a constant speed, it means that there is no change in its velocity. However, this does not necessarily mean that the acceleration is zero.
Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes, so if the velocity remains constant, the acceleration is indeed zero. In this case, since the acceleration is zero, the equation F = ma states that the net force acting on the ball is also zero.
However, this does not imply that no work is done on the ball. Work is defined as the product of the force applied on an object and the displacement of the object in the direction of the force. In the case of lifting the ball at a constant speed, you are exerting an upward force equal to the force of gravity to counteract its weight and prevent it from falling. Even though the velocity remains constant, work is still being done to keep the ball in motion against the force of gravity.
To calculate the work done on the ball, you would consider the vertical displacement of the ball as it is lifted. The work done is given by the equation W = Fd, where W represents work, F represents the force applied, and d represents the displacement. In this case, the force applied would be the force required to counteract the weight of the ball, and the displacement would be the vertical distance the ball is lifted.
Therefore, even when the ball is lifted at a constant speed, work is still being done on the ball due to the force applied against the force of gravity.