Work, Energy, and Power

“It is important to realize that in physics today, we have

no knowledge of what energy is.” - R.P. Feynman
 Work and Energy
Work and Energy concepts (and also
momentum, later) provide an alternative,
easier approach to mechanics!
WORK
• Causes transfer of energy
(between masses) or transforms
energy (from one type to another).
• work is the amount of energy
transferred by forces.

ENERGY
• Measures a change in the condition
of matter (change can be in velocity,
position, mass, etc.)
• There is no such thing as pure energy.
Energy is the measure of a change
(and force is the agent of the change).
 Energy Example: Driving a Car

SPEED UP SLOW DOWN ‘ROUND A CORNER

d d

F
d
F

F and d F and d F and d

are parallel are opposite are perpendicular

car gains car loses car maintains

kinetic energy kinetic energy kinetic energy
Energy Example: The Launch of a Rocket

LIFTOFF! SPEED! ORBIT!

d Fa d d

Fg

Fa

F and d F and d F and d

are parallel are parallel are perpendicular
rocket gains rocket gains rocket has constant
potential energy kinetic energy energy (circular orbit)
 Work
Work depends on three things:
• force on an object
W  Fd cos
• displacement of an object
• angle between the force and displacement
(force must cause the displacement)
Units (metric or SI) click for
applet

1 joule  1 newton  1 meter  1 N  m

Fn Fa
Fk
• work is a scalar quantity, but can be PHYSICS
positive, negative, or zero because it
represents the amount of energy change.
Fg d
work is positive when 0˚≤ θ < 90˚
work is negative when 90˚< θ ≤ 180˚ Which force does positive work?
work is zero when θ = 90˚ Which does negative work?
Which does zero work?
 Example
A 25 N block is being pushed up on a plane inclined at an angle
of 30o with the horizontal by a 46 N force F applied parallel to the
plane. The block moves 3.0 m up the inclined plane. How much
work is done o the block by a) gravitational force, b) force F, c)
friction force and d) normal force. The coefficient of kinetic
friction μk is 0.2
 Work done by a variable Force
Use the graph to calculate the work done to pull the object
7.0 m.
 Work done on a spring
F = kΔx
Δx – elongation or compression of the spring
k – is the force constant.
Δx = x – xo
Work
W= ½ k (Δx)2

Example: A coiled spring in a waist trimming exercise requires

a force of 54 N to compress it by 0.20 m. a) Find the force constant
of the spring. b) How much force is needed to compress the spring
to 0.50 m? c)How much work is done in compressing the spring by
0.50 m?
 Potential Energy
Potential energy is the energy of position of matter
Gravitational Potential - depends on the
position of mass in a gravitational field
g field

in joules GPE  mgh

mass height

Elastic Potential - depends on the

position of mass on an atomic scale

in joules EPE  12 kx 2

spring position
constant
 Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion of matter
(translational) Kinetic Energy - depends on the motion of
macroscopic objects (e.g. a car in motion) moving linearly
Wnet  Fd F  ma
Wnet  mad v f 2  vi 2  2ad KE  12 mv 2 Wnet  KE
Wnet  m 12 (v f 2  vi 2 )

work, dynamics, kinematics! WORK-ENERGY

in joules mass velocity THEOREM

Thermal Energy - depends on the motion of microscopic objects

(e.g. atomic vibrations). Technically not the same as heat.

in joules TE  Fk d
click for
applet
friction distance
 Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem
 Relationship between kinetic energy of an object and the
work done on the object by a constant force:

 This is the work-kinetic energy theorem.

 The work-kinetic theorem is equivalent to Newton’s Second

Law:

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 Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem
 Equivalent formulations (solving for K or K0):

 Kinetic energy cannot be less than zero.

 The work that can be done by an object (negative work)
cannot have a bigger magnitude than the initial kinetic
energy.
 The work-kinetic energy theorem is valid for constant
forces and variable forces.
 The work-kinetic energy theorem is NOT valid for friction.

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 Example

A woman pushes a 2.0 kg cart initially at rest with a force

of 350 N along a horizontal surface. The cart moves a distance
of 4.0 m. What is the final speed of the cart assuming it starts
from rest?

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 Power
Power is the rate at which work is done (or energy is used)

W click for
web page
P
t

Units (metric or SI)

1 joule J
1 watt  1
1 second s

Power can also be expressed in

terms of force and velocity

W Fd cos
P   Fv
t t
 Example
A 1200 kg car can accelerate from 3.0 m/s to 4.0 m/s in
10.0 s. Neglecting friction and air resistance, what is the
mechanical power that the engine of the car provides during
this time interval?

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 Conservation of Mechanical Energy
Mechanical energy is
the sum of kinetic and
potential energy.
ME  KE  PE
Conservative forces
(gravity, spring force)
keep mechanical energy
constant.
Potential and kinetic
energy may change, but
the total mechanical
energy does not change.

KEi  PEi  KE f  PE f

click for click for

animation applet
 Conservation of Mechanical Energy
Example
A spring with constant 800 N/m is
compressed 10 cm. It is released
against a cart with mass of 0.25 kg that
moves along a track without friction. 0.75 m

What is the cart’s speed when it

leaves the spring?
EPEi  KE f  1
2 kxi 2  12 mv f 2
1
2 (800)(0.10)2  12 (0.25)v f 2 At what height above the original release
v f  5.66 m/s point does the cart come to rest?

What is the cart’s speed when it KEi  GPE f

reaches the top of a 0.75 m high hill? 1
2 mvi 2  mgh f

KEi  KE f  GPE f
1
2 (0.25)(5.66)2  (0.25)(9.8)h f
1
mvi 2  12 mv f 2  mgh h f  1.63 m
2
1
2 (0.25)(5.66)2  12 (0.25)v f 2  (0.25)(9.8)(0.75)
or 1
mvi 2  mghi  mgh f where hi  0.75 m
v f  4.16 m/s 2

vi  4.16 m/s
or 1
kxi 2  mgh f
or 1
2 kxi  mv f  mgh
2 1
2
2 2
 Law of Conservation of Energy
Non-conservative forces (friction, applied, normal, tension)
change the mechanical energy, but total energy remains constant.

click for
animation
W  KEi  PEi  KE f  PE f  TE
click for
animation
result of applied or result of gravity result of
normal or tension or spring force friction
 Law of Conservation of Energy
Examples (Assume there is zero air friction in these problems)
A 75-kg Olympic ski jumper starts h  d sin   100 sin 30Þ 50 m
from rest and glides down a 30˚
incline 100-meter long. The track has GPEi  KE f  TE
surface friction. If the jumper leaves mghi  12 mv f 2  Fk d
the track with a velocity of 28 m/s,
what is the average force of kinetic (75)(9.8)(50)  12 (75)(28 2 )  Fk (100)
friction on the skies from the track? Fk  73.5 N

In frustration, a physics student W  GPEi  KE f

shoves a 1.2-kg textbook with a force
of 14 newtons across a 0.5 meter wide Fd cos  mghi  12 mv f 2
desk that has no surface friction. If
the book lands on the ground with a (14)(0.5)cos 0Þ(1.2)(9.8)(hi )  12 (1.2)(5.2 2 )
velocity of 5.2 m/s, how high is the hi  0.784 m
desk above the ground?
k  Fsp / xi  20 / 0.2  100 N/m
Honors: A 400-g wood block is
attached to a spring. The block can EPEi  EPE f  TE
slide along a table with coefficient of
friction 0.25. A force of 20 N
1
2 kxi 2  12 kx f 2  Fk (xi  x f )
compresses the spring 20 cm and the Fk   k mg  (0.25)(0.4)(9.8)  0.98 N
block is released. How far beyond
the equilibrium position will the
1
2 (100)(0.2 2 )  12 (100)(x f 2 )  (0.98)(0.2  x f )
spring stretch? x f  0.18 m
 Example
A child with a mass of 45 kg is on the top of a slide that is
12.0 m long and inclined 30o along the horizontal. (a) Find the
potential energy of the child at the top of the slide. How fast is
the child going at the bottom of the slide if (b) the slide is
frictionless and (c) if the coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.30?

August 25, 2019 Chapter 5 20