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Re: [Phys-L] [**External**] Lenz's law



If I drop a box onto a moving conveyor belt - the sliding friction will do 
POSITIVE work until the speeds match. 

Yes, it’s relative to which reference frame is chosen. 

> On Apr 25, 2024, at 2:20 PM, stefan jeglinski <jeglin@4pi.com> wrote:
> 
> Would we say this is similar to friction? We say the work done by sliding 
> friction is negative, and we justify this by saying either that delta K is 
> negative (object slows down) or the force is pointed opposite to the 
> displacement, but it still depends on our *belief* that the friction force is 
> pointed opposite to the displacement. In the annals of observation, this one 
> appears to be ironclad but it does sometimes seem lacking to just say "well 
> if it weren't true then energy wouldn't be conserved." If that's the best we 
> can do then I'm good with it, but I do prefer to level with a student that 
> maybe "that's the best we can do."
> 
> Stefan Jeglinski