Potential Energy and Mechanical Energy

Modified for Physics 303 by O. A. Pringle

DEEP THOUGHTS
by Jack Handey
If youre a cowboy and youre dragging a guy
behind your horse, I bet it would really make
you mad if you looked back and the guy was
reading a magazine.

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CONSERVATIVE FORCES

A force is called conservative if the work it does on

an object as the object goes between two points is
independent of the path it traverses.

This means that the work done by a conservative

force P
F c along any two paths between the same two
points.
Q

WP6Q

'

m
P

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P @ d PR ' W
F
c
P6Q

If (WF)P6Q is the same for any path between any points

P & Q , then P
F is a conservative force P
F c.
Some COROLLARIES for a conservative force:
1) Reverse path, get negative:

WP6Q = SWQ6P

2) Work done over a closed path is zero:

P

WP6P '

n
P

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P @ d PR ' 0
F
c

3) A constant force (both mag & direction) is conservative

WF

const

i6f

P
P
P
' F
rf&Pri)
const @ D ' F const @ (P

depends only on the initial and final points

F const is conservative
(Pr i & Pr f ) and not the path Y P
F g CD
P
(Wgrav)i6f = P
= (S mg^
j )C(Pr f S Pr i )
= S mg (Pr f C^
j S Pr i C^
j)
= S mg (yf S yi)

with y-axis up

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NON-CONSERVATIVE FORCES
C

Obviously, a non-conservative force P

F nc is one in

which (WF)P6Q depends upon the path taken

Frictional forces are non-conservative.
Q

WP6Q '

Pf @ d PR '

P
Q

'

(& f d R)

(& N) d R ' & N

dR

' & N@(path length)

[WP6Q] path 1= SN(2R)

but

[WP6Q] path 2= SN(R)

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POTENTIAL ENERGY
Work of conservative force P
F c is independent of path Y
C

F c in going from one point to

Work Wc done by P
another is uniquely determined by the points;

Each pair of points has a unique value of work Wc

between them.

Because of these properties, we can define the useful

quantity Potential Energy, generally designated by the
letter U or V, associated with a conservative force.

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POTENTIAL ENERGY AND CONSERVATIVE FORCE

C

The difference in Potential Energy between two

positions (rPa to Pr b ) due to conservative force P
Fc
equals the NEGATIVE of the work done by P
F c on
an object as the object goes on any path between the
points.

Ua6b ' Ub & Ua ' U(Pr b) & U(Pr a)

Pr b

/ &Wa6b ' &

m
Pra

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P r)@ dPR
F(P

Ua6b = Ub S Ua = SWa6b

or

Ub = Ua SWa6b (which relates potentials at two points)

C

Since we will only deal with differences in

potential, we can choose an arbitrary point P
r o as a
standard reference point and assign it a value of
potential energy Uo that is convenient for us.

We can thereby define a unique potential energy to

each point P
r in space, relative to that at the
reference point P
r o ! Setting P
ra = P
r o above

P) = U(rPo) S Wro6r
U(r
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GRAV POTENTIAL ENERGY NEAR EARTHS SURFACE

U(r
P) = U(rPo) S (Wgrav)yo6y = U(rPo) S [ S mg (y S yo)]
C

Choose P
ro = 0

&

assign Uo / Ugrav(r
Po) = 0

Then Ugrav(rP) = Ugrav(rPo) + mg ( y S 0 )

= 0 + mg y
Caution
Caution:

Ugrav(r
P) = m g y

The derivation of this formula requires that the

y-axis is aimed directly upward.

Caution
Caution: Youve NOT seen Ugrav = mg h. Dont use it!

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Handy Insight
An easy way to determine if your potential energy is
increasing or decreasing when you move in a particular
direction is:

Movement with respect

Sign of power

Change in

to the conservative force

P=P
F c CP
v

Potential E

Struggle against force

negative

increasing

Move with force

positive

decreasing

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POTENTIAL ENERGY OF A SPRING

Uspring = k (R!Requilib)2

R is the springs length. Req is the springs equilibrium

length when its neither stretched nor compressed, i.e, its
relaxed length. Ill derive this in class. We define
STRETCH

of the spring as:

s / R S Req = compression/extension of spring from

equilibrium

( seq = 0 )

Uspring(s) = k s 2
CAUTION : U(s) has such a simple form because U(seq) was
assigned the value of zero.
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Apply to a spring-block system in which spring is initially

compressed distance d and then extends to a stretch D.

Uspring(s) = k s 2
CAUTION : You do NOT have the freedom to arbitrarily set
si (or sf) to zero in formula. Value of s as the
actual compression/extension of the spring was
used in derivation of the formula.

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Total Mechanical Energy

Let P
F c be the vector sum of only internal conservative forces
acting in this system, and P
F other be the sum of all other forces
not represented by potential energies. (These are generally
just the non-conservative forces).
Fc + P
F other and
Then P
F net = P
(Wnet )i6f = (Wc)i6f + (Wother)i6f
From the Work-KE theorem:
K = (Wnet )i6f
Kf S Ki = (Wc)i6f + (Wother)i6f

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From the Work-KE theorem:

Thus

Kf S Ki = (Wc)i6f + (Wother)i6f

and

Kf S Ki + [S (Wc)i6f ] = (Wother)i6f
Kf S Ki + [ Uf S Ui ] = (Wother)i6f

Rearranging terms, we have

[Kf + Uf] S [Ki + Ui] = (Wother)i6f

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[Kf + Uf] S [Ki + Ui] = (Wother)i6f

We define Total Mechanical Energy ( E ) of a system as
the sum of its Kinetic (K ) and Potential (U ) energies

Emechanical / K + U
This gives us a VERY useful tool to analyze Nature !

Ef Ei = (Wother)i6f
The change in the total mechanical energy of a system of
particles in going from the initial to the final state equals the
work done on the system by forces other than those
represented through potential energy.
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EXAMPLE: A mass m is attached to a string of length L.

It is released from an angle below the horizontal and
swings downward.
What is its speed at the
bottom?
Ef S Ei = (Wother)i6f
[Kf + Ugf ] S [Ki + Ugi ] = WT

mvf2 + m g yf S mV
v i2 + m g y i = I P
T dP
R = I0 = 0

' vf 2 + m
'g(S L) S 0 + m
' g (S L sin) = 0
m
vf 2 = 2g ( L S L sin ) = 2g (yi S yf)

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[same as direct drop ! ]

Initial and Final States

It is important to realize that the initial and final
states can be set to be ANYWHERE in the evolution.
It is common to believe that you have to divide up
the motion into parts where the action is the same,
but this is not the case.
For example, if a block slides down an incline and
hits a spring, you do not have to first solve the problem
from start to just hitting the spring, and take that
answer for speed to figure out how far the spring is
compressed. You can do it in one go.

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Example: A small block is on an undulating frictionless

track. It is initial pressed against a pivoted spring until the
spring is compressed a distance d. It released from rest at a
height H above the tracks minimum.
After the block has lost contact with the spring, what is
its speed V when it is at height h?

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Ef S Ei = (Wnc)i6f = 0

Ei = Ef

mV
v i2 + mgyi + ksi2 = mvf2 + mgyf + ksf2
mg(+H) + k(S d)2 = mV2 + mg(+h) + k(0)2
(

mgH + kd2 S mgh = mV2

Note
Note: Don't need to compute speed at intermediate
state at the moment block leaves the spring!!

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