CHAPTER-14

KINETICS OF A PARTICLE:
Work & Energy
 KINETICS OF A PARTICLE:
WORK & ENERGY

• Work of a Force
• Work of a Variable Force

• Work of a Constant Force

• Work of Weight

• Work of a Spring Force

• Principle of Work & Energy

• Power & Efficiency

• Conservative Forces & Potential Energy

• Conservation of Energy
PRINCIPLE OF WORK & ENERGY,
POWER & EFFICIENCY
Examples:
14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4,14.5,
14.6, 14.7, 14.8
Fundamental Problems:
F14.1, F14.3, F14.5, F14.7, F14.10
Practice Problems:
14.3, 14.9, 14.13, 14.18, 14.28,
14.31, 14.33, 14.34, 14.46, 14.67
 PROBLEM 14-18
The collar has a mass of 20kg and rests on the smooth rod. Two springs
are attached to it as shown. Each spring has an uncompressed length of
1m. If the collar is displaced s=0.5m and released from rest, determine its
velocity at the instant it returns to the point s = 0.
Solution of Problem 14-18
PROBLEM 14-34
If the coefficient of kinetic friction between the 100 kg crate and the plane is
µk = 0.25, determine the speed of the crate at the instant the compression of
the spring is x = 1.5 m. Initially the spring is unstretched and the crate is at
rest.
Solution of Problem 14-34
 KINETICS OF A PARTICLE:
WORK & ENERGY

• Work of a Force
• Work of a Variable Force

• Work of a Constant Force

• Work of Weight

• Work of a Spring Force

• Principle of Work & Energy

• Power & Efficiency

• Conservative Forces & Potential Energy

• Conservation of Energy
 CONSERVATIVE FORCES & POTENTIAL ENERGY
Conservative Force

• Conservative force is the force acting on the particle that

depends only on the net change in the particle’s position and
is independent of the particle’s velocity and acceleration.

• Moreover, the work done by such force in moving the

particle from one point to another is independent of the path
followed by the particle.

• The weight of the particle and the force of an elastic spring

are two examples of conservative forces
 CONSERVATIVE FORCES & POTENTIAL ENERGY
Weight
• Work done by weight of a particle is independent of the path,
rather, it depends only on the particle’s vertical displacement.
• i.e. U = -W(Δy)
Elastic Spring
• Work done by a spring force acting on a particle is
independent of the path, but depends only on the extension or
compression ‘s’ of the spring:
i.e. U1-2 = - ( 1 ks 22 − 1 ks12 )
Friction 2 2
• In contrast to a conservative force, the force of friction
exerted on a moving object by a fixed surface, is a
conservative force because the work done by the frictional
force depends on the path_ the longer the path, the greater the
work.
 CONSERVATIVE FORCES & POTENTIAL ENERGY

Potential Energy
• Energy may be defined as the capacity for doing work.
• When energy comes from the motion of the particle, it is
referred to as kinetic energy
• When energy comes from the position of the particle,
measured from a fixed datum or reference plane, it s called
potential energy
• Thus potential energy is a measure of the amount of work
a conservative force will do when it moves from a given
position to the datum.
 CONSERVATIVE FORCES & POTENTIAL ENERGY
Gravitational Potential Energy
• If a particle is located a distance y
above the arbitrary selected datum,
the particle’s weight W has positive
gravitational potential energy, Vg,
since W has the capacity of doing
positive work when the particle is
moved back down to the datum.
• Similarly, if the particle is located a
distance y below the datum, Vg is
negative since the weight does
negative work when the particle is
moved back up to the datum.
• At datum, Vg = 0
• In general if y is positive upward, the
gravitational potential energy of the
particle of weight W is:
Vg = Wy
 CONSERVATIVE FORCES & POTENTIAL ENERGY
Elastic Potential Energy
• When an elastic spring is elongated
or compressed a distance s from its
unstretched position, the elastic
potential energy Ve due to the
spring’s configuration is:

Ve = +(1/2)ks2

• Here Ve is always positive, since in

the deformed position the force of the
spring has the capacity for always
doing positive work on the particle
when the spring is returned to its
unstretched position
 POTENTIAL FUNCTION

• In general if the particle is subjected to both gravitational

and elastic forces, the particle’s potential energy can be
expressed as a potential function, which is the algebraic
sum:

V = Vg + Ve ----------------------(1)

• The work done by a conservative force in moving the

particle from point (x1, y1, z1) to point (x2, y2, z2) is
measured by the difference of this function. i.e.

U1-2 = V1 – V2 -------------------(2)
 POTENTIAL FUNCTION

• For example, the potential function

for a particle of weight W
suspended from a spring can be
expressed in terms of its position s,
measured from a datum located at
the unstretched length of the spring,
as
V = Vg + Ve = -Ws + (1/2)ks2
• If the particle moves from s1 to a
lower position s2, then applying eq
(2) it can be seen that the work of
W and Fs is:
U1-2 = V1 – V2
= [-Ws1 + (1/2)ks12] – [-Ws2 + (1/2)ks22]
= W(s2 – s1) – [(1/2)ks22 - (1/2)ks12]
 CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

• When a particle is acted upon by a system of both conservative and

non-conservative forces, the portion of work done by conservative
forces can be written in terms of the difference in their potential
energies using equation (2) i.e. (∑U1-2 )cons = V1 – V2
• So the principle of work and energy can be written as:
T1 + V1 + (∑U1-2 )noncoms = T2 + V2
• Here (∑U1-2 )noncoms represents the work of non-conservative forces
acting on the particle.
• If only conservative forces are applied to the body, this term is zero
and then we have:
T1 + V1 = T2 + V2
• This equation is referred to as the conservation of mechanical energy
or simply the conservation of energy.
• It states that during the motion the sum of the particle’s kinetic and
potential energies remains constant.
• For this to occur, kinetic energy must be transformed into potential
energy, and vice versa.
 CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

System of Particles

• If a system of particles is subjected only to conservative forces, then

the conservation of energy equation may be written as:

ΣT1 + Σ V1 = Σ T2 + Σ V2

• It states that during the motion the sum of the system’s kinetic and
potential energies remains constant.

• It is important to remember that only problems involving conservative

forces (weights and springs) may be solved by using the conservation
of energy principle.
Work & Energy: Conservation of Energy

Examples:
14.9, 14.10, 14.11
Fundamental Problems:
F14.13, F14.15
Practice Problems:
14.79, 14.85, 14.86, 14.90, 14.96
EXAMPLE 14-9
The gantry structure shown is used to test the response of an airplane during a
crash. As shown, the plane having a mass of 8Mg is hoisted back until θ = 60°,
and then the pull back cable AC is released when the plane is at rest. Determine
the speed of the plane just before crashing into the ground, θ = 15°. Also what is
the maximum tension developed in the supporting cable during the motion.
Neglect the effect of lift caused by the wings during the motion and the size of the
airplane.
Solution of Example 14-9
EXAMPLE 14-10
The Ram R shown has a mass of 100kg and is
released from rest 0.75m from the top of a spring
A, that has a stiffness kA=12 kN/m. If a second
spring B, having a stiffness of kB=15 kN/m, is
nested in A, determine the maximum
displacement of A needed to stop the downward
motion of the ram. The unstretched length of
each spring is indicated in the figure. Neglect the
mass of the springs.
Solution of Example 14-10
PROBLEM 14-86
Tarzan has a mass of 100kg and from rest swings from the cliff by rigidly holding on
to the tree vine, which is 10m measured from the supporting limb A to his center of
mass. Determine his speed just after the vine strikes the lower limb at B. Also, with
what force must he hold on to the vine just before and just after the vine contacts the
limb at B?
Solution of Problem 14-86
PROBLEM 14-96
The 65-kg skier starts from rest at A. Determine his speed at B and the
distance s where he lands at C. Neglect friction.
Solution of Problem 14-96