WORK

Problems
(Answers below)

Work = Force x distance in the direction of the force
Work = Force x distance x cos θ

1. Two students apply a total force of 800. N to push a car 40.0 m across a road. How much
work is done? 



2. How much work is done lifting a 60.0 kg crate from the ground to a height of 10.0 m?


3. Using a pulley system, a dockworker does 1920 J of work to lift a crate from one floor to
the next (40.0 m) in a warehouse. What was the tension in the rope?


4. A person pushes a lawnmower with a force of 50.0 N at an angle of 35.0° below the
horizontal. If the mower moves through a distance of 25.0 m, how much work is done
by the person?


5. In order to change a tire, a force of 80.0 N is exerted on the handle of a screw type jack.
The handle to which the steel shaft is attached has a radius of 0.50 m. The handle is
turned through 30 revolutions. How much work is done?


6. A person uses a rope to pull a 1000. kg boat 50.0 m along the wharf at constant speed.
The rope makes an angle of 45° with the wharf. If a force of 40.0 N is used to move the
boat, how much work is done on the boat by the water?


7. Calculate the work done in pushing a 4.00 kg block up a frictionless inclined plane 10.0
m long that makes an angle of 30° with the floor. You may assume that the block moves
at constant speed.


8. Calculate the work done lifting the 4.00 kg block in question #7 from the ground to the
top of the inclined plane. (Hint: First find the height of the incline.)


9. How does the work in problem 7 compare to the work in problem 8. Explain.

 10. It takes 12.0 kJ of work to pull a loaded sled weighing 800 N a distance of 200. m. To do
this, a force of 120 N is exerted on the rope that makes an angle with the horizontal. At
what angle is the rope held?


11. The hammer of a pile driver has a mass of 100.0 kg. The machine’s engine lifts it to a
height of 5.0 m every 10.0 s.
a) How much work does the machine do to lift the hammer?
b) How much work does the machine do in one minute?
c) How much work is done by gravity as the machine lifts the hammer?
d) How much work is done by gravity as the hammer is dropped?
















WORK Answers
1. 32,000 J
2. 5,880 J
3. 48 J
4. 1,020 J
5. 7540 J
6. -1414 J
7. 196 J
8. 196 J
9. They are equal. In 7 there was a smaller force across a larger distance. In 8 there was a
larger force across a smaller distance. In both an equal amount of gravitational energy
was transferred as they both ended at the same height.
10. 60°
11. a. 4900 J
b. 2.94 x 104 J
c. -4900 J
d. 4900 J