Work, power, and Energy

Summary

In this chapter, we learned the mechanical definition of work, energy, and power. Work done
by a force is the force times the displacement of the object along the line of action of the
force acting on it. Energy was defined as the capacity to do work. Mechanically, energy takes
two form: potential energy, which is energy due to position or demonation, and kinetic
energy, which is energy due to motion. Potential energy could be due to the position of the
object in a gravitational field, called gravitational potential energy, or to its bending, stretch,
or deformation, called strain energy. The work done by a force (other than gravity) on an
object causes a change in energy of the object. Its a force does work, a change in energy
results. Likewise, if a change in energy is observed, a force did work to cause this change in
energy.

Power is defined as the rate of doing work. An alternative definition of power is average
force times average velocity. In human movement the maximum power output a human is
capable of producting is related to the duration of the activity involved. This has to do with
the metabolic capabilities of the human body.
POWER

The ability of an athlete to increase the the displacement of an object (or body part) while
exerting a force will affect performance in many skills. Success in these skills thus requires
the athlete to exert a large amount of work on an object (or body part). In some sports,
axcelling requires not just ability todo a large amount of work, but also the ability to do that
work in a short time. Power is the mechanical term that describes this ability . like work and
energy, power is another word that you have some familiarity with and that has numerous
meanings. In mechanics, power is the rate of doing work, or how much work is done in a
specific amount of time. Mathematically, power is defined as

U
𝑃=
∆𝑡
Where :

P : Power

U : Work done

Δt : time taken to do the work

Power can be thought of as how quickly or slowly work is done. The SI units for power are
watts (abbreviated with the letter W), named after the scottish inventor james watt; 1 w
equals 1 j/s. You may be familiar with watts because light bulbs, amplifers and other
electrical devices are rated in watts. Another unit of measurement for power is horspower,
but the watt is the unit of measure for power in the international system of units.

Power can be thought of as how quickly or slowly work is done.

If we exmine equation 4.12 more closely, another way of defining power can be derived :

U
𝑃=
∆𝑡
F̅(𝑑) 𝑑
𝑃= = F̅ [ ]
∆𝑡 ∆𝑡

𝑃 = F̅𝑣̅

Power can be defined as average force time average velocity along the line of action of that
force.

The concept of power is useful in biomechanics for several reason. The best way to explain
one use of power is by example. Suppose you have to move a stack of books form one table
to another, and you want to finish this task as quickly as possible. This means that you want
to maximize your power output. Numerous strategies are available to you, form moving the
books one at a time to moving them all at once. The amount of work done to the books will
be the same, but the time it takes (and thus the power output ) may differ. Carrying the entire
stack at once would require a large force, and the movement would be slow. Carrying a few
books at a time in several trips wouldn’t require as much force, and each trip would be
quicker. In the first case, you are exerting large force but moving with a slow velocity. In the
second case, you are exerting smaller forces butmoving with a faster velocity.