How do you know the factors of the acceleration and the distance?

[apope]

1 Joule = 1N x 1m

which means

1 Joule = 1kg x 1m/s^2 x 1m

but can it also mean that the object accelerates at 0.5m/s^2 and travels 2m? The mass is constant, so if it is given 1J of energy how do you know the factors of the acceleration and the distance?

 

[Office_Shredder]

Given work, you don't know how far it's traveled vs. how fast it's accelerating, correct. You need additional information to sort that out.

 

[apope]

so it's like.. you need to know the force being applied.. just like you can't know how fast a certain force can accelerate something without knowing its mass?

 

[Office_Shredder]

Exactly. Work is calculated by the formula F*d where F is the force along the path of motion, d is the distance travelled. So if you know what F*d is, you don't know either F or d, just like knowing m*a (mass times acceleration) gives you neither m nor a