who first defined engergy as the dot product of force and distance??

Question

just curious

Answer 1

I suspect Newton did. The so-called work function F*S = WE can be and has often been derived from the change in momentum squared (p^2) so that d(p^2) = 2 p dp = 2 mv F dt = 2mF v dt = 2m F dx [See source.]

Thus, we have d(p^2)/2m = F dx = KE = 1/2 mv^2 showing that F dx or more generally F*S is energy, which we call work in this case.

I suspect Newton because he dabbled a bit in inertia and its measure momentum p = mv. and impulse d(p) = F dt. All of which can lead quite naturally to F*S in the general case...as shown earlier.

Answer 2

mechanical work is the amount of energy transferred by a force.
In the 1830s, the French mathematician Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis coined the term work for the product of force and distance.