Work Miracle In The Quran

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People 1400 years ago knew very well that moving a heavy object requires work. But 21st century Islamic apologists who want to propagate "scientific miracles in the Quran" are asking: "How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known that weight is related to work?"

The "miracle"

In physics, Work against gravity is simply weight multiplied by displacement.
Work by gravity
In the absence of other forces, gravity results in a constant downward acceleration of every freely moving object. Near Earth's surface the acceleration due to gravity is g = 9.8 m.s-2 and the gravitational force on an object of mass m is Fg = mg. It is convenient to imagine this gravitational force concentrated at the center of mass of the object. If an object is displaced upwards or downwards a vertical distance y2 − y1, the work W done on the object by its weight mg is:

     W = Fg (y2-y1) = Fg  Δy = - mg Δy

where Fg is weight (pounds in imperial units, and newtons in SI units), and Δy is the change in height y. Notice that the work done by gravity depends only on the vertical movement of the object. The presence of friction does not affect the work done on the object by its weight.
Wikipedia, Work (physics), 2019

Work against gravity is simply weight multiplied by displacement. This was known recently, however this was portrayed in the Quran 1400 years before it was discovered. In the Quran work is related to weight.

[Quran 99:7-8] Whoever does work of an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does work of an atom's weight of evil will see it.

"Aamal عمل" means work. In this verse "Yaamal يَعْمَلْ" means do work. Here work (W) is linked to weight (mg).

How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known that weight is related to work?

The fancy formula

The verse says nothing about gravity. So why did apologists specifically chose a formula from the section of the Wikipedia article about work by gravity?

W = Fg (y2-y1) = Fg Δy = - mg Δy

It seems that they wanted to make it look more fancy just to impress people, because the basic formula for work (W) in physics is much simpler. It's just force (F) times distance (s):

The verse

Whoever does work of an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does work of an atom's weight of evil will see it.


The weight

The verse talks about weight in the context of "weight of good" so the word weight is most probably not meant literally, but metaphorically. It's the value of the good deed. So the word "weight" in the verse doesn't support the miracle claim. It's not about physical weight of an object.

The work

In physics the word "work" means moving an object for a certain distance by applying physical force. But the work in the verse is mentioned in the context of work of good deeds, so it's the vernacular meaning of the word "work". So the word "work" in the verse also doesn't support the meaning which it was given in the miracle claim.

Discovery

How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known that weight is related to work?

The fact that moving an object of high weight requires a lot of work was discovered long before the written history. It was discovered by trying to move a heavy object.

See also