CAMBRIDGE A LEVEL

PHYSICS

WORK, ENERGY,
POWER

LEARNING OUTCOMES
NO.

LEARNING OUTCOME

Understand the concept of work

ii

What is kinetic energy?

iii

Look at the relationship between gravitational forces and

gravitational potential energy

iv

Apply the principle of conservation of energy

What is internal energy?

vi

What is power?

vii

Learn efficiency and concept of useful work

CONCEPT OF WORK
Definition:
Work is

defined as displacement
times force in the direction of the
displacement.

CONCEPT OF WORK
, 
  
where

=
=
=

magnitude of force, N.
displacement of mass, m.
angle between force and
displacement vectors.

CONCEPT OF WORK

 


, 
  

CONCEPT OF WORK

Work is positive since component of F that is co - linear to

displacement vector and displacement vector are in the
same direction.
Positive work increases the total mechanical energy (kinetic
+ gravitational potential) energy of the mass.
Example 6.4, Chapter 6: WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY, page 178; SEARS AND ZEMANSKYS
UNIVERSITY PHYSICS (WITH MODERN PHYSICS); YOUNG, FREEDMAN, BHATHAL; Pearson ,
Australia 2011.

CONCEPT OF WORK

Work is negative since component of F that is co - linear to

displacement vector and displacement vector are in the
opposite direction.
Negative work decreases the total mechanical energy
(kinetic + gravitational potential) energy of the mass.
Example 6.4, Chapter 6: WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY, page 178; SEARS AND ZEMANSKYS
UNIVERSITY PHYSICS (WITH MODERN PHYSICS); YOUNG, FREEDMAN, BHATHAL; Pearson ,
Australia 2011.

CONCEPT OF WORK

No work is done since there is no component of F that is

parallel to displacement vector.
Example 6.4, Chapter 6: WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY, page 178; SEARS AND ZEMANSKYS
UNIVERSITY PHYSICS (WITH MODERN PHYSICS); YOUNG, FREEDMAN, BHATHAL; Pearson ,
Australia 2011.

EXAMPLES

Answers:
a. 3.60 J; b. 0.90 J; c. 0 J; d. 0 J; e. 2.70 J
Exercise 6.1: Work, page 198, Chapter 6: Work and Kinetic Energy from Sears
and Zemanskys University Physics with Modern Physics, 13th edition, by
Young, Freedman and Ford ; Addison Wesley, 2012, San Francisco.

CONCEPT OF WORK
(ADDENDUM)
Q:
What happens if the work producing the force is not
constant?
Ans:


Use W   dx where

W work done
F component of F in x ' direction
x( final position
x, initial position

or in other words,
find the area under the graph of force in direction of
displacement versus displacement .
Equation 6.7, Chapter 6: WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY, page 178; SEARS AND
ZEMANSKYS UNIVERSITY PHYSICS (WITH MODERN PHYSICS); YOUNG, FREEDMAN,
BHATHAL; Pearson , Australia 2011.

KINETIC ENERGY
KINETIC ENERGY
Every moving object has this form of mechanical energy
/
-. 1 2 0
0

Formula :
where:
3 = mass of object, kg
4 = speed of object , m s-1
A scalar quantity
Work must be done on/by object or conversion of energy must
occur if objects kinetic energy is to be changed (either increased
or decreased)

KINETIC ENERGY
KINETIC ENERGY
Derivation:
4 ( ' 7(
5    3  6   3 
 
2  
,
,
(
(
3  94 ' 7 : = 3 4 ( when 7 0 i.e. if object starts from
(
(
rest.
Assumptions:
i. F is the resultant external force in direction of s.
ii. All work done on object is positive work.
iii. There is no change in height of object.
iv. Recall <0 =0 > 0 ?  from KINEMATICS chapter

EXAMPLES
Oct/Nov 2009 Paper 11, Question 14.

EXAMPLES
Oct/Nov 2009 Paper 11, Question 15.

EXAMPLES
May/Jun 2011 Paper 12, Question 19.

EXAMPLES
Oct/Nov 2011 Paper 12, Question 15.

POT E NT IA L E NE RGY
POTENTIAL ENERGY
GRAVITATIONAL
POTENTIAL ENERGY

ELECTRICAL
POTENTIAL ENERGY

ELASTIC
POTENTIAL ENERGY

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT

G R AV I TAT I O N A L F I E L D S
GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS
How they occur?

Gravitational fields exist around ALL objects that have

mass.

What effect do they Gravitational fields exert a gravitational force on ANY

cause?
object that has mass. The value of the gravitational
force = 1@  A@2BC@CBD@E FBGEH CGDACI.
How is it
measured?

All gravitational fields have a gravitational field

strength. This value depends on the mass of object and
distance.

Any examples?

The gravitational field that exists around the Earth

exerts a gravitational force on ALL objects that have
mass. The Earths gravitational field strength has a
value of 9.81 N kg-1 close to or on its surface.

G R AV I TAT I O N A L
POTENTIAL ENERGY
GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY
Stored in an object with mass when the object is in the gravitational
field of another object, e.g when an apple is placed on the ground.
Equation only valid close to surface of
Formula : -J 1AI
object that provides gravitational field
where:
1 = mass of object, kg
K = gravitational field strength , N kg-1
L = height above reference level (altitude), m
A scalar quantity
Reference level is chosen arbitrarily. However, the lowest level is
almost always set as reference level to avoid negative values.
The MN of an object at the reference level is 0.

G R AV I TAT I O N A L
POTENTIAL ENERGY
direction of
movement

F=mg

Points to note:
VW of object decreases when
direction of movement is the same
as direction of gravitational force
VW of object increases when direction
of movement is opposite to direction
of gravitational force.

Derivation:
Recall O
 P and
QK since
gravitational force.
If we replace R by S we get O Q K L.

EXAMPLES
May/Jun 2008 Paper 1, Question 18

EXAMPLES
Oct/Nov 2008 Paper 1, Question 16.

C O N S E R VAT I O N O F
ENERGY
Recall: Energy cannot be created nor
destroyed, only transformed.
For closed systems; i.e. where energy cannot
be transferred in or out of system:
MBDBCB@E MFBD@E

If only mechanical energy is considered, then

the equation becomes:
M,BDBCB@E > MN,BDBCB@E M,FBD@E > MN,FBD@E

EXAMPLES

Question 3, Set 19: GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY IN A UNIFORM FIELD, page

45; PROBLEMS IN PHYSICS ; E.D GARDINER, B.L McKITTRICK; McGraw Hill Book
Company, Sydney 1985.

Answers:
a. 200 J, b. C, c. 78.5 J, d. 122 J, e. 14.1 m s-1

EXAMPLES

Question 3, Set 19: GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY IN A UNIFORM FIELD, page

45; PROBLEMS IN PHYSICS ; E.D GARDINER, B.L McKITTRICK; McGraw Hill Book
Company, Sydney 1985.

C O N S E R VAT I O N O F
ENERGY
What happens when there is friction?
The frictional force acting on a moving object
does work on that object.
MFBD@E MBDBCB@E ' X HDG YZ FBCBD
or:
M,FBD@E > MN,FBD@E
M,BDBCB@E > MN,BDBCB@E
' X HDG YZ FBCBD

C O N S E R VAT I O N O F
ENERGY
What happens when there is:
manual effort, or
animal effort, or
effort due to a machine / engine?

MFBD@E MBDBCB@E > 9X HDG YZ GFFC:

or,
M,FBD@E > MN,FBD@E
M,BDBCB@E > MN,BDBCB@E
> 9X HDG YZ GFFC:

C O N S E R VAT I O N O F
ENERGY
If we combine both situations, we obtain:
M,FBD@E > MN,FBD@E
M,BDBCB@E > MN,BDBCB@E
' X HDG YZ FBCBD
> 9X HDG YZ GDABDG 
1@D[@E GFFC:

EXAMPLES
Oct/Nov 2010 Paper 12, Question 14.

EXAMPLES
May/Jun 2011 Paper 11, Question 15.

HOMEWORK
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

May/June 2008, Paper 1, question 17.

Oct/Nov 2008, Paper 1, question 15.
Oct/Nov 2008, Paper 1, question 17.
Oct/Nov 2010, Paper 12, question 15.
Oct/Nov 2010, Paper 12, question 16.
May/June 2011, Paper 11, question 9.
May/June 2011, Paper 11, question 14.
May/June 2011, Paper 11, question 17.

HOMEWORK
9. May/June 2011, Paper 21, question 2.
10.Oct/Nov 2011, Paper 11, question 16.
11.Oct/Nov 2011, Paper 11, question 18.
12.Oct/Nov 2011 Paper 12, question 16.
13.Oct/Nov 2011 Paper 22, question 2.
14. May/June 2012, Paper 11, question 16.
15. May/June 2012, Paper 12, question 17.
16.May/June 2012, Paper 21, question 2.

HOMEWORK
17.May/June 2012, Paper 21, question 2.
18.May/June 2012, Paper 22, question 2.
19.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 11, question 18.
20.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 11, question 20.
21.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 13, question 18.
22.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 11, question 21.
23.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 23, question 2.

I N T E R N A L E N E R GY
The internal energy of an object is the
total energy content of ALL its
molecules / atoms.
The internal energy of an object is also
the sum of the kinetic and potential
energies of ALL its molecules / atoms.

I N T E R N A L E N E R GY
We can rewrite our equation for conservation
of energy by including the internal energy
change as:

BDCGD@E

For example, when a car brakes, the

decrease in M will be equal to increase in
heat energy in the cars tyres.

EXAMPLES
May/Jun 2008 Paper 1, Question 19.

POWER
Definition: Power measures the rate at
which work is done.
Work done in a shorter time period produces a
higher power output compared to the same
amount of work done over a longer period of
time.
Power could also refer to the rate at which
energy is converted into another form.
Power measures the performance of a machine /
equipment / person / animal.

POWER
POWER
can be measured as:

AVERAGE POWER
INSTANTENOUS POWER
Power at a particular
time instant

Power output
over a given time
interval, ]

O
Formula:
]

POWER
Another way of expressing power is:
H
H9
:
H
^

2
HC
HC
HC
*(provided F is time independent / constant )

Instantenous power, ^BD C

2BD C
Average power, ^@2G
2@2G

EXAMPLES
May/June 2010, Paper 11, question 16.

EXAMPLES
Oct/Nov 2010, Paper 11, question 18.

EFFICIENCY
The efficiency of a device or machine
measures how capable the device is in
converting input energy into useful work.
These three quantities are related mathematically
by:

[ GF[E X
GFFBBGDZ %
 /ee %
BDN[C GDGAZ
The input energy that is not converted into
useful work is wasted energy.

EFFICIENCY
We can also measure efficiency in terms of
power.
[ GF[E NXG
GFFBBGDZ %
 /ee %
BDN[C NXG

HOMEWORK
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Oct/Nov 2008, Paper 1, question 18.

May/Jun 2009 Paper 1, Question 14.
May/June 2010, Paper 11, question 3.
May/June 2010, Paper 11, question 15.
May/June 2010, Paper 23, question 3.
Oct/Nov 2010, Paper 11, question 16.
Oct/Nov 2010, Paper 11, question 17.
Oct/Nov 2010, Paper 12, question 17.

HOMEWORK
9. May/June 2011, Paper 11, question 16.
10.May/June 2011, Paper 12, question 18.
11.May/June 2011, Paper 22, question 3.
12.Oct/Nov 2011, Paper 11, question 19.
13.Oct/Nov 2011, Paper 12, question 17.
14.Oct/Nov 2011, Paper 22, question 2.
15.May/June 2012, Paper 11, question 14.
16.May/June 2012, Paper 11, question 17.

HOMEWORK
17.May/June 2012, Paper 11, question 18.
18.May/June 2012, Paper 11, question 19.
19.May/June 2012, Paper 12, question 18.
20.May/June 2012, Paper 12, question 19.
21.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 11, question 21.
22.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 12, question 21.
23.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 12, question 22.
24.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 13, question 20.

HOMEWORK
25.Oct/Nov 2012, Paper 23, question 3.