ESF 1124

Fundamental Physics

CHAPTER 5
Energy, Work & Power

Outline
Work done by a constant force
Work done by variable force one
dimensional case
Kinetic energy and work-energy
theorem
Power & Conservation of Energy
Gravitational Potential Energy

Introduction
The concept of energy is one of the most
important topics in science and engineering.
Work is done by a force acting on an object when
the point of application of that force moves
through some distance and the force has a
component along the line of motion.
Define kinetic energy, which is energy an object
possesses because of its motion.
It is important to note that the work-energy
concepts are based on Newtons laws and
therefore allow us to make predictions that are
always in agreement with these laws.

Work Done by a Constant

Force

Car is pushed along s displacement, but the

amount of force F used to push it does not
change.

A scalar quantity

SI unit is Newton meter (Nm)

Also known as Joule (J)

Work is performed when an object

undergoes a displacement d under
the action of a constant force F.

For the diagram:

Assume that you push a car very, very,

very hard until your veins pop out. But it
did not move.
Was any work done?

Exercise #1
A man cleaning a floor pulls a vacuum
cleaner with a force of magnitude F = 50.0
N at an angle of 30.0 with the horizontal.
Calculate the work done by the force on
the vacuum cleaner as the vacuum
cleaner is displaced 3.00 m to the right.

Exercise #1 (solution)

Exercise #2
A particle moving in the xy plane
.0i, 3.0 j )
undergoes a(2displacement
d
j ) constant force F
(5m
.0i,as
2.0a
N acts on the particle.
Calculate the magnitude of the
displacement d and that of the force, F.
Calculate the work done by F.

Exercise #2 (solution)
Magnitude of the d and that of the force, F.

Work done by F.

Exercise #3
A person pushes 10 kg box at a constant
velocity over a distance of 4 m. The coefficient of
kinetic friction between the box and the floor is
0.3. How much work does the person do in
pushing the box?

Exercise #3 (solution)
Since the box travels a constant velocity, the net force
acting on the box is zero. That means that the force of the
persons push is equal and opposite to the force of friction.
The force of friction is give by RN, where is the
coefficient of kinetic friction and RN is the reaction force.
The reaction force is equal to the weight of the box, which
is:
_2

mg = 10kg 10ms

= 100 N

Work , W = F s
= RN s
= 0.3 100 N 4m
= 120 J

Exercise #4
A plank of length 5 m is inclined so that the
higher end is 3 m above the lower. A block of
mass 40 kg is dragged at constant speed up the
plank against a friction force of 120 N. Find the
total work done.

Exercise #4 (solution)

120
N

3m

Exercise #5

The weight lifter is bench-pressing a barbell

whose weight is 710 N. In part (b) of the figure,
he raises the barbell a distance of 0.65 m above
his chest, and in part (c) he lowers it the same
distance. The weight is raised and lowered at a
constant velocity. Determine the work done on
the barbell by the weight lifter during (a) the

Exercise #5 (solution)
(a)

W = ( F cos ) s
= (710 N ) cos 0(0.65m)
= 460 J

(b)

W = ( F cos ) s
= (710 N ) cos180(0.65m)
= 460 J
*(cos 1800 = -1)

Exercise #6
A 120 kg crate on the
flatbed of a truck that is
moving with an
acceleration of a =
1.5m/s2 along the positive
x axis. The crate does not
slip with respect to the
truck, as the truck
undergoes a displacement
whose magnitude is s =
65m. What is the total

Exercise #6 (solution)
Forces that act on the crate:
(1) the weight W = mg of the crate,
(2) the normal force FN exerted by the
flatbed,
(3) the static frictional force fs.

f s ma (120kg )(1.5m / s ) 180 N

2

W ( f s cos ) s (180 N ) cos 0(65m) 1.2 10 4 J

Work Done by Variable

Force

A spring can be stretched out and in

by varying force.

Below shows a graph of a force acting on an

object, say a ball, and the distance travelled.
The force is constant at 5 N from point A to B.
then from point B to C, the force starts to
decline with time until it stop at rest.

Can you determine the amount of

work done?

20 J
5J

From the force vs. displacement plot, work can

be calculated as the area under the graph.

What if the varying force is not a

straight line?

From the force vs. displacement plot, work can

be calculated as the area under the graph.

For a small
displacement, x,

W F x x

Over the total displacement:

xf

W Fx x
xi

Since work done is equal to the area

under the curve:

lim
x 0

xf

F x
x

xi

xf
xi

Fx dx

xf

W Fx dx
xi

Exercise #7
The force acting on a particle is F(x)=
(9x2 +3) N.
Find the work done by the force on the
particle as it moves it from x1 = 1.5m
to x2 = 4m.

Exercise #7 (solution)
xf

W = Fx dx
xi

= (9 x + 3) dx
1.5

= 199 J

Kinetic Energy
and
Work-energy Theorem

It relates to things we do in everyday life, from

fuel for transportation and heating, to electricity
for lights and appliances, and foods for
consumption.

Think of energy as the capacity that an object

has for performing work.

Kinetic Energy
It can be difficult to use Newtons
second law to solve motion problems
involving complex forces.
An alternative approach is to relate
the speed of a moving particle to its
displacement under the influence of
some net force

Kinetic Energy (cont.)

The formula that relates the energy
on an object as a function of speed
and mass is given as:

This formula represents the kinetic

energy of an object.

Kinetic Energy (cont.)

Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity
and has the same units as work.
For example, a 2.0-kg object moving
with a speed of 4.0 m/s has a kinetic
energy of 16 J.

Work-Kinetic Energy
Theorem
When a moving object is acted on by
another force, at which the object
experiences a change in speed (work
done), its kinetic energy changes.
This change can be written as:

Where Ki is the initial kinetic energy

and Kf is the final kinetic energy.

Work Done by a Spring

Fs = -kx
(Spring force)
Where;
k = positive constant called force constant (measure of the stiffness
of the spring,
stiff springs have large k values, soft springs have small k
values)
x = the displacement of the block from its unstretched position
*The negative sign signifies that the force exerted by the spring is
always directed
opposite the displacement.

Work Done by a Spring

Power

Power
It is interesting to know not only the
work done by an object, but also the
rate at which it is done.
Compare for bottle of peanut butter
and a 5 grams of explosives.
Which of the two contain more
energy?

Power (cont.)
The energy contained in both objects
are very similar.
The only difference is how fast the
energy is released.

Power (cont.)
For simplicity sake, lets assume that
both the bowl of cereal and the hand
grenade is capable of releasing 1000
Joules of energy.
The hand grenade releases all its
energy in 1 second, while the bowl of
cereal in 1 hour.
How then do we differentiate the
behaviour of these 2 items? We use
the concept of power to differentiate

Power (cont.)
Average power is the rate at which energy
is released/transferred can be written as:

What is the average power for the hand

grenade and the bowl of cereal?
In terms of power, hand grenade is a
cereal killer.

Instantaneous Power
We can define the instantaneous
power P as the limiting value of the
average power as t approaches
zero:

Topic Outline

Efficiency
Potential energy
Conservative force
Conservation of energy

Efficiency
We talked about the concept of
energy previously, which is the
capacity that an object has for doing
work.
It is now appropriate to introduce the
term efficiency.
Efficiency describes how well energy
is utilized to perform a particular
task.

Efficiency (cont.)
Take a car for example.
Its engine is capable of converting
energy contained inside the fuel
(stored chemical energy) into
mechanical energy, enabling the car
to move.
However, the conversion from
chemical to mechanical energy isnt
100% efficient.

Efficiency (cont.)
Ideally we would like the following in
a car:
Chemical
Mechanical
Energy
(fuel)

Energy
(movement of
car)

Unfortunately we have this instead:

Chemical
Energy
(fuel)

Heat
Noise
Mechanical
Energy

Efficiency (cont.)
In this case, efficiency is ratio at which
chemical energy is converted into
mechanical energy, and it is written as:

Useful Work Done

Efficiency
Total Work Done
Useful work here refers to energy in the form
of mechanical energy which moves the car.
Total work done refers to the energy
released in the form of heat, noise and
mechanical energy.

Gravitational Potential
Energy
There are several forms of potential
energy:
Elastic potential energy applicable to a
block of spring
Gravitational potential energy

In this chapter, we will focus

specifically on gravitational potential
energy.

Gravitational Potential Energy

(cont.)
As an object falls toward the Earth,
the Earth exerts a gravitational force
mg on the object, with the direction
of the force being the same as the
direction of the objects motion.
It is extremely important to know
that when gravitational force does
work on the object and it increases
the objects kinetic energy.

Gravitational Potential Energy

(cont.)
Gravitational potential energy for an
object with a distance (or height) h
meters away from earth is given as:

Potential energy mgh

Gravitational Potential Energy

(cont.)
When an object fall from height h2 to
height h1, the change in potential
energy is converted to kinetic energy.
h2

h1

1
2
W mgh2 mgh1 mv
2

Conservative Force
To understand the concept of
conservative force, lets look at 2
scenariosBall
below:
initially at height h2

Ball falls to height h1

Conservative Force (cont.)

What is its change in potential energy for
both scenarios?

W mgh2 mgh1

Ball initially at height h2

Ball falls to height h1

Conservative Force (cont.)

Notice that the change in potential energy
for both scenario is independent of path
taken?
Ball initially at height h2

Ball falls to height h1

Conservative Force (cont.)

Now look at this scenario. What is the
change in the potential energy of the
ball as it moves from point A to B?
A

Height h2

Conservative Force (cont.)

We observe 2 things:
Work done on the ball is independent of
path taken
The work done on the ball moving
through a closed path is zero. (A closed
path is one in which the beginning and
end points are identical.)

Conservative Force (cont.)

Forces that exhibit such behaviour
are termed conservative forces.
In this case, the gravitational force is
a conservative force.

Conservation of Energy
Energy can never be created or
destroyed.
It is merely transformed from one
form to another, but the total energy
of an isolated system is always
constant.
This is known as the conservation of
energy.