Abstract
“Work” is a transient phenomenon — it is a process. Work cannot be stored as such. However, the product of work may be stored as a change in the energy content of the system acted upon. In addition, in line with the previous discussion, the product of work may also be stored as a change in organisation: When (as discussed in the preceding chapter) I pick up a pencil from the floor and replace it on the desk from which it fell, I am engaging in an act of mechanical work. If that act of work is transient, the new position of the pencil is not. The pencil will remain in its new position until another force acts on it — that is, until more work is applied — thereby changing its position once more.
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Literature Cited
DC Youvan and BL Marrs (1987) Molecular mechanisms of photosynthesis, Sci. Am. 256 (6): 42–48.
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© 1990 Springer-Verlag London Limited
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Stonier, T. (1990). Information and Work. In: Information and the Internal Structure of the Universe. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3265-3_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3265-3_8
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-19878-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-3265-3
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