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Potential Energy and Energy Conservation: We'll Discuss The Following
Potential Energy and Energy Conservation: We'll Discuss The Following
•Potential Energy
•Mechanical Energy and Its Conservation
•Problem Solving Using Conservation of Mechanical Energy
•Conservative and Nonconservative Forces
•The Law of Conservation of Energy
•Energy Conservation with Dissipative Forces: Solving Problems
We learnt in the last chapter that a particle gains or loses KE because it
interacts with other objects that exert forces on it. We summarized this
fact by the Work-KE theorem: Wnet K .
The figures show a body moving vertically (along the y axis). The forces
acting are mg and possibly others: Fother . In Fig (a), the body moves down
from a height y1 to a height y2 . The work done by gravity is positive:
Wg Fs mg ( y1 y 2 ) mgy1 mgy 2
The work of gravity and the change in GPE are related simply:
Wg (U g2 U g1 ) (mgy2 mgy1 ) U g
The change in GPE is the negative of the work done by gravity. When a
body moves up, gravity does negative work and U U 2 U1 is positive
(GPE ). When a body moves down, gravity does positive work and
U U 2 U1 is negative (GPE ).
Conservation of Mechanical Energy (Gravity only)
Too see what GPE is good for, suppose mg is the only force acting on a
body. The body is falling freely with no air drag. Let its speed at point y1
be v1 and that point y2 be v2 . According to the work-KE theorem,
Wnet Wg K 2 K1 (U 2 U1 ) K 2 K1
Put U mgy and K mv 2 / 2 and get
1 2 1
K 2 U 2 K1 U1 mv2 mgy2 mv12 mgy1 (if only gravity does work )
2 2
The sum ( K U ) is known as the mechanical energy ( E ) of the system.
(By “system” we mean the body of mass m and the earth considered
together, because GPE is a shared property of both bodies.) The
mechanical energies at y1 and y2 are K1 U1 E1 and K 2 U 2 E2 . The last
equation simplifies to
E K U constant (if only gravity does work )
This is our first example of the CONSERVATION OF MECHANICAL ENERGY.
Another way to write this is: E K U 0, which means: if KE
increases, then PE will decrease by the same amount etc.
Refer to the figure. A ball of mass m 2.60 kg starting from rest, falls a
vertical distance h 55.0 cm before striking a vertical spring, which it
compresses an amount Y 15.0 cm. Determine the spring constant.
Assume mechanical energy conservation.
Solution:
( K U ) f ( K U )i
We take the initial state as the state
when the ball is about to be
released (Fig (a)), and the final
state as the state when the spring is
fully compressed (Fig (c)). (The
middle figure has been included
only for clarity.) We take the zero
of GPE at the upper end of the free
spring in Fig (a).
Then,
U i mgh, K i 0.
In the final state, we’ll have to
include both GPE and EPE:
1
U f mgY kY 2 , K f 0.
2
1
( K U ) f ( K U )i 0 mgY kY 2 mgh.
2
Solve for k :
2mg (h Y ) 2(2.6)(9.8)(0.55 0.15)
k 1590 N/m.
Y2 0.152
The maximally compressed spring will be expand and project the ball upwards. How
high will the ball rise?
This example is similar to Ex. 5.5 (page 47) of the Workbook. Try it.
It is easy to check that gravity and spring force have this property. (If you throw a ball up, it
reaches a maximum height and returns to your hand with the same speed; so, Wg 0 .
Frictional force is not conservative. Suppose a block moves in a circle of radius r on a
rough horizontal plane. The force of kinetic friction has magnitude f k mg and is
directed opposite to the displacement. The work it does over a single revolution is
W f mg (2 r ) . For two revolutions, it is mg (4 r ) , which are clearly not equal even
though they are both round trips.
Let us now modify our energy conservation equation so as to account for non-conservative
work. Start with work-energy theorem: Wnet K f K i . Write the left side as two separate
terms:
Wc Wnc K f K i
where the subscripts “c” and “nc” represent “conservative” and “non-conservative”. Recall
that the change in PE is the negative of the work done by the conservative force:
U f U i Wc . Thus,
(U f U i ) Wnc K f K i
Recast this in a more convenient form:
(U K ) f (U K )i Wnc E f Ei Wnc
This is law of conservation of energy. Note that Wnc is often (but not always) negative.