Energy and

Work

Part 1: Energy

Reading Quiz: Question 1

Energy is a physical quantity with properties somewhat similar
to

1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

money.
heat.
a liquid.
work.
momentum.

33%
9%
1%
43%
14%

Reading Quiz: Question 2

Which of the following types of energies are not discussed in
chapter 10, sections 10.1 10.5?

1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Kinetic energy
Gravitational potential energy
Elastic potential energy.
Mechanical energy.
Electric potential energy.

1%
1%
2%
5%
90%

Reading Quiz: Question 3

Hookes law describes the force of

1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

gravity.
a spring.
collisions.
tension.
none of the above.

0%
96%
2%
1%
1%

Kinetic Energy and Gravitational Potential Energy

Consider an object falling in free fall:

Kinematics give us this:

Rearrange a bit:

Multiply by m:

Kinetic and Potential Energy

The kinetic energy of an object is

The gravitational potential energy of

an object is

For the falling ball,

Energy Bar Charts

We can use an energy bar chart shows us how energy is

transferred between kinetic and potential:

Conservation of Mechanical Energy

The sum of the kinetic and potential energy of a system is

called the mechanical energy:

In the situations weve seen so far, a particles mechanical

energy never changes:

This is the law of conservation of mechanical energy.

Is it always true? No

ConcepTest 1
Two balls, one twice as heavy as the other, are dropped from
the roof of the building. Just before hitting the ground, the
heavier ball has
1.
2.
3.
4.

One-half
The same amount as
Twice
Four times
the kinetic energy of the lighter ball.

3%
5%
85%
7%

ConcepTest 2
A block is shot up a frictionless 40 slope with initial velocity v.
It reaches a height h before sliding back down. The same block
is shot with the same velocity up a frictionless 20 slope. On
this slope, the block reaches height
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

2h
h
h/2
Greater than h, but I cant predict an
exact value
Less than h, but I cant predict an exact
value

9%
55%
17%
12%
7%

ConcepTest 3
A block of mass 2.0 kg slides down a ramp from a height of 1.0
m. What is its speed at the bottom of the ramp?
1.

2.
3.
4.

1.0 m/s
2.6 m/s
4.4 m/s
8.8 m/s

1%
7%
92%
0%

ConcepTest 4
A block slides down a frictionless ramp of height h. It reaches
velocity v at the bottom. What is its velocity at the bottom if it
slides down a ramp of height 2h?
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

1.41v
2v
3v
4v
6v

35%
35%
9%
10%
11%

Example Potential energy

Consider the 1.0 kg rock in the figure below.
What does Amber say the potential energy of the rock
is?
1.
2.
3.

-9.8 J
0J
9.8 J

17%
3%
81%

Example Potential energy

Consider the 1.0 kg rock in the figure below.
What does Bill say the potential energy of the rock is?

1.
2.
3.

-9.8 J
0J
9.8 J

17%
72%
11%

Example Potential energy

The rock drops to the ground.
What does Amber say the potential energy of the rock
is now?
1.
2.
3.

-9.8 J
0J
9.8 J

4%
95%
1%

Example Potential energy

The rock drops to the ground.
What does Bill say the potential energy of the rock is
now?
1.
2.
3.

-9.8 J
0J
9.8 J

84%
3%
14%

Example Potential energy

What is the change in potential energy from both their

viewpoints?

Example Potential energy

What is the speed of the rock right before it hits the ground?

Problem Solving Strategy

Example: The Ballistic Pendulum

A 10 g bullet is fired into a 1200 g wood block hanging from a
150 cm long string. The bullet embeds itself into the block, and
the block then swings out to an angle of 40. What was the
speed of the bullet?

Restoring Forces

Systems that exhibit restoring forces are called elastic.

A great example is a spring.

Hookes Law

Hookes law tells us the restoring force for a spring:

where s = s se is the displacement of the end of the spring

from equilibrium.

Quick Example: Spring on the wall

A 20 cm long spring is attached to the wall. When pulled
horizontally with a force of 100 N, the spring stretched to a
length of 22 cm. What is the value of the spring constant?

Quick Example: Spring on the ceiling

The same spring is now suspended from hook and a 10.2 kg
block is attached at the bottom end. How long is the
stretched spring?

Quick Example: Spring on the ceiling

Elastic Potential Energy

Stretched or compressed springs have some kind of stored

energy that can be transferred to kinetic energy.

Called elastic potential energy.

See the textbook for derivation:

Mechanical Energy Again

With springs and gravity, a particles mechanical energy will

be

There are now two kinds of stored energy inside the system.
But the mechanical energy can still be conserved.

Example: Dropping a block onto a spring

A 20 cm tall spring with spring constant 5000 N/m is placed
vertically on the ground. A 10.2 kg block is held 15 cm above
the spring. The block is dropped, hits the spring, and
compresses it. What is the height of the spring at the point
of maximum compression?

Energy Diagrams

Potential energy is a function of position.

So we can plot the potential versus position:

Energy Diagrams

Energy Diagrams

Molecular Bonds

Check out this energy diagram for an HCl molecule:

Elastic Collisions

A perfectly elastic collision is one in which the mechanical

energy is conserved.
Of course, momentum will be conserved, too!

Elastic Collisions

How do we analyze this kind of collision?

With our conservation laws:

We can rearrange these for the final velocities (see text):

Three Cases of Interest

1.

Billiard balls (m1 = m2)

2.

Bowling ball hitting a ping-pong

ball (m1 >> m2)

3.

Ping pong ball hitting a bowling

ball (m1 << m2)

ConcepTest 5
Two cars of equal mass are travelling in opposite directions.
Just before colliding, the speed of one is twice that of the
other. They collide and lock together, moving off as one unit.
Compared to the kinetic energy of the cars before the collision,
their kinetic energy after the collision is
1.
2.
3.

greater
less
the same

3%
60%
37%

ConcepTest 6
A ball is thrown against a wall; it bounces off and returns with
speed equal to its initial speed before striking the wall. Which
of the following statements is true from before to after the
collision between the ball and the wall?
1.
2.
3.

4.

5.

The kinetic energy of the ball is the same.

The momentum of the ball is the same.
Both the kinetic energy and the momentum of the
ball are the same.
Neither the kinetic energy nor the momentum of
the ball are the same.
The collision is inelastic.

33%
5%
60%
2%
1%

ConcepTest 7
A basketball with a tennis ball on top is dropped from a height
h. How high will the tennis ball go after the basketball bounces
off the ground (give your answer as a multiple of h, e.g., 2h)?
9H

Matched Acceptable Value: NA, Within Range: 1

Acceptable Value: NA, Acceptable Range: {1, 100}

Part 2: Work

The Dot Product of Two Vectors

How do you multiply two vectors together?

Like force and displacement.

One way is called the scalar or dot product:

ConcepTest 8
What is the dot product of these two vectors?

1.
2.
3.

Positive
Negative
Zero

98%
1%
1%

ConcepTest 9
What is the dot product of these two vectors?

A
1.
2.
3.

Positive
Negative
Zero

14%
86%
0%

ConcepTest 10
What is the dot product of these two vectors?

1.
2.
3.

Positive
Negative
Zero

2%
4%
94%

Example: Dot product 1

Compute the dot product of the two vectors.

The Dot Product of Unit Vectors

What is ...

The Dot Product of Two Vectors

We can also write the dot product in terms of vector

components:

Example: Dot product 2

Compute the dot product of the two vectors using their
components.

Work

A force acting on a particle does work:

ConcepTest 11
Which force does the most work?

1.
2.
3.
4.

The 10 N force.
The 8 N force.
The 6 N force.
They all do the same amount of work.

4%
7%
88%
1%

Example: Pulling a suitcase

A rope inclined upward at a 45 angle pulls a suitcase through
the airport. The tension in the rope is 20 N. How much work
does the tension do if the suitcase is pulled 100 m?

Thermal Energy
Lets compare the microphysics and macrophysics of a 500 g
iron ball moving at 20 m/s.
What is the macroscopic kinetic energy of the ball?

Thermal Energy

Each iron atom inside the ball has a mass of around 9 10-26
kg and probably moves around 500 m/s.
What is the kinetic energy of each iron atom?

But theres around 5 1024 atoms inside the ball ... so thats
a microscopic kinetic energy of 60,000 J!

This energy is called the thermal energy.

Its related to the temperature of the object.

Dissipative Forces

So what happens to the kinetic energy

when a block slides across a surface and
slows down?

Its transformed into thermal energy for both

objects (block and surface).
We get an increased temperature of both
objects.

Forces that result in a decrease of the

macroscopic kinetic energy are called
dissipative forces.

Thermal Energy and Friction

The thermal energy increase due to friction can be

found from:

Note that friction and other dissipative forces always

increase the thermal energy they never decrease it.

Conservation of Energy

We can combine the ideas of work and thermal energy with

mechanical energy into one big law of physics:

Example: Pushing a block

Consider pushing a block across a rough table at a constant
speed.
What is K?
1.

2.
3.

Zero
Positive
Negative

0%
0%
0%

Example: Pushing a block

Consider pushing a block across a rough table at a constant
speed.
What is U?
1.

2.
3.

Zero
Positive
Negative

0%
0%
0%

Example: Pushing a block

Consider pushing a block across a rough table at a constant
speed.
What is Eth?
1.

2.
3.

Zero
Positive
Negative

0%
0%
0%

Example: Pushing a block

Consider pushing a block across a rough table at a constant
speed.
What is Wext?
1.

2.
3.

Zero
Positive
Negative

0%
0%
0%

So what energy transformations take place? What about

energy transfers?

Example: Stretching a spring

The 5.0 kg box is attached to one end of a spring with spring
constant 80 N/m. The other end of the spring is anchored to
a wall. Initially the box is at rest at the springs equilibrium
position. A rope with a constant tension of 100 N then pulls
the box away from the wall. What is the speed of the box
after it has moved 50 cm? The coefficient of friction
between the box and the floor is 0.30.

Example: Stretching a spring

What is K?

1.
2.
3.

Zero
Positive
Negative

0%
0%
0%

Example: Stretching a spring

What is U?

1.
2.
3.

Zero
Positive
Negative

0%
0%
0%

Example: Stretching a spring

What is Eth?

1.
2.
3.

Zero
Positive
Negative

0%
0%
0%

Example: Stretching a spring

What is Wext?

1.
2.
3.

Zero
Positive
Negative

0%
0%
0%

Example: Stretching a spring

Now answer the actual question

Final Example
A 5.0 kg box slides from rest down a 5.0 m high frictionless hill, across a 2.0
m wide horizontal surface, then hits a horizontal spring with spring constant
500 N/m. The other end of the spring is anchored against a wall. The
ground under the spring is frictionless, but the 2.0 m wide horizontal
surface is rough. The coefficient of kinetic friction of the box on this surface
is 0.25.
How many complete trips will the box make across the rough patch before
stopping?