On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:26:20 -0500, Chuck
wrote:

How is the word "moving" being used in this quote? Is it used as a
gerund meaning "causing to move" or as a participle describing energy
that is in motion?

Hi Chuck,

Your question is as about as free of the ongoing myopic failures as
any to come down the pike.

To put it in the terms of Feynman:
"If the force, for instance, is in one direction and the object
on which the force is working is displaced in a certain
direction, then ONLY THE COMPONENT OF FORCE IN THE
DIRECTION OF THE DISPLACEMENT does any work.
[emphasis in the original]
....
"The rule is 'force times distance,' but we really mean only
the component of force in the direction of the displacement
times delta s or, equivalently, the component of displacement
in the direction force times F. It is evident that no work
whatsoever is done by a force which is at right angles
to the displacement."

I have had the benefit of especially good and rigorous instruction in
Physics, and I have long noted the religious storms that have swirled
about the topic of "conservation of ____" (fill in the prayer book
blank). I have also long noted the complete absence of any actual
complete balance which necessarily requires both forms of energy,
kinetic and potential. In fact, kinetic energy has seemed to be the
uninvited guest to any discussion - treated as some poor relation
consigned to the oblivion of consideration.

If anyone is really pursuing the topic of fields and work, then they
should at least visit the authority on the topic, Feynman, and read
his chapters wholly devoted to the topic:
13 Work and Potential Energy (A)
and
14 Work and Potential Energy (conclusion)
and specifically:
14-5 Potentials and fields

I include chapter 13 because within it, in a subordinate almost
parenthetical aside, we find (on page 13-2) Power:
"Because the concepts of kinetic energy, and energy in
general, are so important, various names have been
given to the important terms in equations such as
these [referring to material preceding the statement].
F·v is called POWER:
the force acting on an object times the velocity of the
object (vector DOT product) is the power being delivered
to the object by that force. We thus have a marvelous
theorem: THE RATE OF CHANGE OF KINETIC ENERGY
OF AN OBJECT IS EQUAL TO THE POWER EXPENDED
BY THE FORCES ACTING ON IT."
[emphasis in the original]

Feynman is not generally available, but he is certainly held by many
of those stumbling over the terms of their own invention.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC