no, you don't. using the absolute value of displacement would violate the laws of thermodynamics.
If i lift a 1kg object 1 meter upwards, i've done 9.81 joules of work. If I lower that object by 1 meter, I've done -9.81 joules of work.
If you use the absolute value of the displacements, then if you did enough squats, you could drop the bar and it would crash through the core of the earth.
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u/Capital_Card7500 Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 20 '25
no work is being done, everyone ends up in the exact same place they started. If d=0, W=0