Question

A worker does 25 J of work lifting a bucket, then sets the bucket back down in the same place. What is the total net work done on the bucket?

Answer 1

The net work is zero Joules

Explanation:

The 25 Joules of work done lifting the bucket up is known as positive work. When that bucket is then lifted back down, that is negative work.

Since the bucket is now back at its starting point, there has been no change in its Gravitational Potential Energy (GPE or `U_G`). So, by the Work-Energy Theorem, no work has been done.