Tricky Words in this week‘s OVI

What are the differences between energy, power, force and strength? As usual it's not possible to match one Slovak word exclusively to each English one. Sila can be force, strength and power, and moc can be power and strength, depending on the context. In terms of physics, energy is measured in joules, power in watts and force in newtons, but they're all interrelated: the joule is a unit of energy, but also of work; one joule is one newton meter; and a watt is one joule per second. Strength doesn't fit into this system of units, but it's used in physics referring to the strength of a magnetic field. My conclusion is that knowing these units won't help people use the English words appropriately, but then I gave up physics as a school subject when I was 14.

Andy’s Wordshop

Maybe another approach could help. I associate energy with heat, power with electricity, force with weight and strength with intensity. The steelworks energy management system also covers power generation and consumption. The strength of steel sheet depends on its thickness and composition, but also on temperature, which all affect the amount of force need to shape it. Moving away from the technical to the human context, I think businesspeople need to have a lot of energy to be successful. Are politicians more interested in gaining power or money? When the police use force to break up a demonstration, they use violence. Weightlifting is a good way of increasing your muscle strength.