[548swimmer]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Here's a rudimetary explanation:

If you are holding a stack of school books, even though they are heavy, you are doing no work. Although a force is being applied to hold them, they are not being moved at any distance.

Now say you take that stack of school books, and walk them upstairs to the second floor. You have now done work.

Now say you take that stack of school books, and run them upstairs to the second floor. You're out of breath. Why? You just did the same amount of work, but in half the time.

How did you do it? You used twice the power.

What if you had only a certain amount of power? Well, to get the books up there twice as fast, you'd need to carry only half as many.

Now, keep in mind that this example neglects a lot of things, but it's a basic way to describe it, that seems to get the point across.

Of course, you'll always get one kid who says "but the library is on the third floor."

I like it! Now to grab a stack of A.P. Physics books and get the freshman running!