A man pulls on his dog's leash to keep him from running after a bicycle. Which term best describes this example?

negative work

positive work

negative force

positive force

Question

A man pulls on his dog's leash to keep him from running after a bicycle. Which term best describes this example?

 negative work

 positive work

 negative force

 positive force

matt101 · Answer

Negative force (relative to the dog).

No work is being done since there is no movement in the direction of any force. The dog is trying to go forward, but the man applies a force backwards (the negative direction for the dog) such that the dog is unable to move.