Virtual work
Overview
Principle of least action
In physics, the principle of least action – or, more accurately, the principle of stationary action – is a variational principle that, when applied to the action of a mechanical system, can be used to obtain the equations of motion for that system...
to the study of forces and movement of a mechanical system
Mechanical system
A mechanical system manages power to accomplish a task that involves forces and movement. Mechanical is derived from the Latin word machina, which in turn derives from the Doric Greek μαχανά , Ionic Greek μηχανή "contrivance, machine, engine" and that from μῆχος , "means, expedient, remedy".The...
. Historically, virtual work and the associated calculus of variations
Calculus of variations
Calculus of variations is a field of mathematics that deals with extremizing functionals, as opposed to ordinary calculus which deals with functions. A functional is usually a mapping from a set of functions to the real numbers. Functionals are often formed as definite integrals involving unknown...
were formulated to analyze systems of rigid bodies, but they have also been developed for the study of the mechanics of deformable bodies.
If a force acts on a particle as it moves from point A to point B, then, for each possible trajectory that the particle may take, it is possible to compute the total work done by the force along the path.
