1

8. Work, energy and power

Physics
Grade 12

Everything Science www.everythingscience.co.za

 2

Work
When a force exerted on an object causes it to move, work is done on the object (except if
the force and displacement are at right angles to each other).

W=F x cos

Work is done in situation a) but not in situation b)

Everything Science www.everythingscience.co.za

 3

Work continued
We can define the joule as:

1 joule is the work done when an object is moved 1 m under the application of a force of
1 N in the direction of motion.

From this we get:

If
F acts in the same direction as the motion then positive work is being done.
In this case the object on which the force is applied gains energy.
If the direction of motion and
F are opposite, then negative work is being
done. This means that energy is transferred in the opposite direction.

Everything Science www.everythingscience.co.za

 4

Energy and work

The energy lost by a system is exactly equal to the work done by the system.
Energy is the capacity to do work.

The work-energy theorem states that the work done on an object is equal to the change
in its kinetic energy: W= KE=KEf KE i

Everything Science www.everythingscience.co.za

 5

Power
Power is defined as the rate at which work is done or the rate at which energy is
expended. The mathematical definition for power is:

P=Fv
The unit of power is the Watt (W).

Everything Science www.everythingscience.co.za

 6

For more practice or to ask an expert for help on

this section see:
www.everythingscience.co.za
ESCEB

Everything Science www.everythingscience.co.za