@mikequinn_premed: MCAT physics - work done by gravity The MCAT is going to ask you to calculate the work of gravity as an object is lifted up. Make sure the question is asking about the work done by GRAVITY. Other things can do work too, so make sure it’s gravity they’re asking about to use this method. Work = Fdcos(theta) “F” is for Force. IMPORTANT - the MCAT can trick you by telling you there is a force applied to lift the object. This is NOT the force you plug into the formula. When you’re solving for the work done by gravity, you ALWAYS use mg to calculate F. In this problem, mass is 5kg. g = 10m/s^2 on Earth. “d” is for distance. In this video, the distance is 10m “(theta)” is the angle created by the direction the object travels and the force acting on it. This is tricky. In this problem our object is traveling upwards. The force that we care about here is gravity, and it’s pointing downwards. The direction our object is traveling in and the force acting on it are opposite. This creates an angle of 180°. cos (180°) = -1 Plugging in: W = (5kg)(10m/s^2)(10m)cos(180°) = -500J It’s important that you know why work is negative here. This indicates that gravity is NOT lifting the ball up. It makes sense, gravity doesn’t lift things up. This means that 500J of work was put in by something else to lift the ball. It could be a person, a machine, etc. that they give you in the problem. #premed #mcat

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Wednesday 08 April 2026 14:00:23 GMT