Definition:CGS/Energy/Erg

Definition

The erg is the CGS unit of energy:

It is defined as being:

the energy transferred to (or work done on) a body when a force of $1$ dyne acts on that body in the direction of the force's motion through a distance of $1$ centimetre.

Thus:

$1 \, \mathrm {erg} = 1 \, \mathrm {dyn} \, \mathrm {cm}$

$\ds $

$\ds 1$

erg

$\ds $

$=$

$\ds 10^{-7}$

$\mathrm {erg}$

The symbol for the erg is $\mathrm {erg}$.

The $\LaTeX$ code for $\mathrm {erg}$ is \mathrm {erg} .

The CGS base units of the erg are:

$1 \ \mathrm {erg} = 1 \ \mathrm g \ \mathrm {cm}^2 \ \mathrm s^{-2}$

where:

$\mathrm g$ denotes grams

$\mathrm {cm}$ denotes centimetres

$\mathrm s$ denotes seconds (of time).