Say there’s an iron nail sitting on the table and I bring a permanent magnet close enough above it that the nail comes off the table and sticks to the magnet. Now it appears a force has been exerted on the nail to move it over a distance (the definition of work, measured in units of energy). Where did the energy come from?
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It seems to me that the nail moves higher in a gravitational energy well and lower in an electromagnetic energy well. But I just can’t make my brain accept that because it sure looks like that damn nail had work done on it. Help?
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