Goals for Chapter 6

Chapter 6
Work and Energy • Study work as defined in physics
• Relate work to kinetic energy
• Consider work done by a variable force
• Study potential energy
• Understand energy conservation
• Include time and relationship of work to power

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Introduction
• In previous chapters we studied motion Work, Energy, Power
– Sometimes force and motion are not enough to
solve a problem
Chapter 6 in a nutshell
– We introduce work and energy as the next step
Work is Force times ‘Distance’.
• One of the most important concepts in physics The change in Kinetic Energy is equal to the work.
– Alternative approach to mechanics Power is Work per unit time.

• Many applications beyond mechanics W  F d

• Very useful tools Wnet   K
– You will learn new (sometimes much
easier) ways to solve problems
P  W / T
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6.1 Work done by a constant force

Work is force times distance…but!

Force distance

W  Fs 1 N  m  1 joule J 

Only the force component in the direction of motion

counts!

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 6.1 Work done by a constant force
Typical Values of Work
Component of the force
Activity Equivalent work (J)
along the displacement
is used in defining work Annual U.S. energy use 8 x 1019
Mt. St. Helens eruption 1018

W  F cos  s Burning one gallon of gas

Human food intake/day
108
107
Melting an ice cube 104
cos 0  1 Lighting a 100-W bulb for 1 minute 6000
Heartbeat 0.5
cos 90  0

Turning page of a book 10–3

cos180  1  Hop of a flea 10–7

Breaking a bond in DNA 10–20
SI Unit of work: Joule
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Example: Pulling a suitcase-on-wheels Example: Bench-Pressing

Find the work done if the force is 45.0-N, the angle is An athlete is bench-pressing a barbell whose
50.0 degrees, and the displacement is 75.0 m. weight is 710 N. First, he raises the barbell a
distance of 0.65 m above his chest, and then he
lowers it the same distance. The weight is
raised and lowered at constant velocity.
Determine the work done on the barbell.
Lifting phase 
W  F cos 0o s  Fs 
 
 710 N  cos 0 0.65 m  460 J
o

W  F cos  s  45.0 N  cos 50.0 75.0 m 


Lowering phase W  F cos180  s  Fs o

 2170 J  710 N  cos180  0.65 m  460 J

o

Work is negative as force is opposite to

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displacment

Example: Accelerating a crate

The truck is accelerating at a rate of
+1.50 m/s2. The mass of the crate is
120-kg and it does not slip. The
magnitude of the displacement is 65 m.
What is the total work done on the
crate by all of the forces acting on it?
The angle between the displacement
and the normal force is 90 degrees.
The angle between the displacement
and the weight is also 90 degrees.
W  F cos 90 s  0
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The angle between the displacement
and the friction force is 0 degrees.
f s  ma
 
 120 kg  1.5 m s 2  180 N
total work is done by frictional force here
W  180 N  cos 0 65 m 
 1.2  10 4 J
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 Example: Pushing a stalled car
Steve pushes his stalled car 19 m to clear the intersection. If he pushes
with a constant force with magnitude 210 N (about 47 lb), how much
work does he do on the car (a) if he pushes in the direction the car is
heading, (b) if he pushes at 30o to that direction ?
6.2 The Work-Energy Theorem and Kinetic Energy
Consider a constant net external force acting on an object.
The object is displaced a distance s, in the same direction as
the net force.

F

The work is simply W   F s  ma  s

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The Work-Energy Theorem and Kinetic Energy Kinetic energy

W  m as  • Kinetic: Energy of motion.

as   12 v f2  v o2 
– A car on the highway has kinetic energy.
v f2  v o2  2 as 


W  m 12 v f2  v o2   12 mvf2  12 mvo2 – We have to remove this energy to stop it.
– The breaks of a car get HOT!
DEFINITION OF KINETIC ENERGY
– This is an example of turning one form of
The kinetic energy KE of and object with mass m energy into another (thermal energy).
and speed v is given by

KE  12 mv 2 1
K m v2 Kinetic Energy
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2

The Work-Energy Theorem and Kinetic Energy Example: Deep Space 1

The mass of the space probe is 474-kg and its initial velocity is 275
m/s. If the 56.0-mN force acts on the probe through a displacement
of 2.42×109m, what is its final speed?

THE WORK-ENERGY THEOREM

When a net external force does work on and object, the
W  12 mvf2  12 mvo2
kinetic energy of the object changes according to

W  KE f  KE o  12 mv f2  12 mv o2
W  Fcos  s
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 The previous problem can be solved using
kinematic equations.
First using Newton’s second law, F=ma to find acceleration.

a = F/m= 0.056/474 = 1.18x10-4 m/s2

 Fcos  s  1
2
mv f2  12 mv o2 Vo = 275 m/s, and d = 2.42x109 m.

So
5.60 10 N cos 0 2.42 10 m 
-2  9 V f  Vo  2  a  d
2 2

V f  (275) 2  2 1.18 10  4  2.42 109

 1
2 474 kg v f2  12 474 kg 275 m s 2
V f  804 m / s
v f  805 m s
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Summary Work done by a constant force

Kinetic Energy • Provides a link between force and energy
• The work, W, done by a constant force on an
object is defined as the product of the component
of the force along the direction of displacement
Work
and the magnitude of the displacement

W  (F cos ) x
(F cos ) is the component
of the force in the direction
Work - (Kinetic) Energy Theorem of the displacement

Wtotal  K f  K i   K x is the displacement

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Work done by multiple forces Work - Kinetic Energy Theorem

Suppose FTot = F1 + F2 FTot • When work is done by a net force on an object and the
F1 r
and the displacement is r.  only change in the object is its speed, the work done is
equal to the change in the object’s kinetic energy
WTOT = (FTot cos) r
Wtotal  KE f  KE i   KE
F2

It’s the total force that matters!!

1 1
The work done by each force is: F1
FTot Wtotal  mv f2  mv i2
r 2 2
W1 = (F1 cos1 ) r  

W2 = (F2 cos2 ) r F2 – Speed will increase if work is positive
WTot = W1 + W2 – Speed will decrease if work is negative

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 Example: Downhill Skiing
A 50-kg skier is coasting down a
W   F cos  s
25o slope. Near the top of the
slope, her speed is 3.6 m/s. She - need  F
accelerates down the slope
because of the gravitational
force, even though a kinetic
friction force of magnitude 71 N
1 opposes her motion. Ignoring
KE  m v2 air resistance, determine the
2 speed at a point that is In this case the net force is

 F  mg sin 25
displaced 57 m downhill.
Wtotal  KE f  KE i - solve for vf

 fk
- need W m
1
2 mv f2  W  12 mvi2 W   F cos  s  F  50kg  9.80 s 2
 sin 25  71N  170 N
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6.3 Gravitational Potential Energy

1
2 mv f2  W  12 mvi2
putting it all together • Gravitational Potential Energy
is the energy associated with
the relative position of an
object in space near the
Earth’s surface

– Objects interact with the earth through the

gravitational force
– The potential energy of the earth-object system

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Work and Gravitational Potential Energy Example: A Gymnast on a trampoline

• Consider block of mass m at initial height yi
• Work done by the gravitational force
Wgrav  F cos  s  (mg cos )s
The gymnast leaves the trampoline at an initial height of 1.20 m
and reaches a maximum height of 4.80 m before falling back
down. What was the initial speed of the gymnast?

but : s  y i  y f , cos   1,
Thus : Wgrav  mg y i  y f 
 mgy i  mgy f
PE  mgy
This quantity is called potential energy:
Important: work is related to
Wgravity  PEi  PE f  PE the difference in PE’s!

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 W  12 mvf2  12 mvo2
We can solve this problem using kinematics
Wgravity  mgh o  h f 
V f  Vo  2  a  (h f  ho )
2 2

mgh o  h f    12 mvo2 0  Vo  2  ( g )  (h f  ho )
2

 Vo  2  g  (ho  h f )
2

v o   2g h o  h f  Vo   2  g  (ho  h f )

 
v o   2 9.80 m s 2 1.20 m  4.80 m   8.40 m s
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Potential Energy Gravitational Potential Energy

• Potential energy is associated with the Wgravity  mgh o  mgh f

position of the object within some system
– Potential energy is a property of the system,
not the object
– A system is a collection of objects or
particles interacting via forces or processes
that are internal to the system
• Units of Potential Energy are the same as
those of Work and Kinetic Energy [J]
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DEFINITION OF GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY
The gravitational potential energy PE is the energy that an
object of mass m has by virtue of its position relative to the
surface of the earth.
That position is measured by the height h of the object relative
to an arbitrary zero level:
PE  mgh
1 N  m  1 joule J 
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6.4 Conservative versus Nonconservative Forces Conservative Forces - Independence from Path
Version 1 A force is conservative when the work it does
on a moving object is independent of the path between
the object’s initial and final positions.

Wgravity  mgh o  h f 

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 Conservative versus Nonconservative Forces Conservative versus Nonconservative Forces
Version 2 A force is conservative when it does no work
on an object moving around a closed path, starting and
finishing at the same point.

ho  hf Wgravity  mgh o  h f 

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Conservative versus Nonconservative Forces
An example of a nonconservative force is the kinetic
frictional force fk.
W  F cos  s  f k cos180 s  f k s
Friction depends on the path - nonconservative force
• The friction force transforms kinetic energy of
the object into a type of energy associated with
temperature (heat)

The work done by the kinetic frictional force is always • The blue path is shorter
negative. than the red path
Thus, it is impossible for the work it does on an object • The work required is
that moves around a closed path to be zero. less on the blue path
than on the red path
The concept of potential energy is not defined for a • Friction depends on
nonconservative force. the path and so is a
nonconservative force
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Conservative versus Nonconservative Forces Conservative versus Nonconservative Forces

In normal situations both conservative and non-
conservative forces act simultaneously on an object, so W  Wc  Wnc
the work done by the net external force can be written as

W  Wc  Wnc KE   PE  Wnc

W  KE f  KE o  KE THE WORK-ENERGY THEOREM

Wc  Wgravity  mgh o  mgh f  PE o  PE f  PE Wnc  KE  PE

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 6.5 The conservation of mechanical energy The conservation of mechanical energy

Wnc  KE  PE  KE f  KE o   PE f  PE o  THE PRINCIPLE OF CONSERVATION OF

MECHANICAL ENERGY
Wnc  KE f  PE f   KE o  PE o  The total mechanical energy (E = KE + PE) of an
object remains constant as the object moves,

Wnc  E f  E o
provided that the net work done by external non-
conservative forces is zero.

If the net work on an object by nonconservative forces Ef  Eo

is zero, then its energy does not change:

Ef  Eo KE f  PE f  KE o  PE o
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The conservation of mechanical energy Example: A daredevil motorcyclist

A motorcyclist is trying to leap across the canyon by driving
horizontally off a cliff with v=38.0 m/s. Ignoring air resistance,
find the speed with which the cycle strikes the ground on the
other side.

‘projectile motion’, but use conservation of mechanical energy

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Example 10: The Kingda Ka roller coaster

The Kingda Ka is a giant roller coaster.
The ride includes a vertical drop of 127
m. Suppose the coaster has a speed of 6.0
m/s at the top of the drop. Neglect friction
and air resistance and find the speed of

Ef  Eo the riders at the bottom.

Conservation of mechanical energy

mgh f  12 mv f2  mgh o  12 mv o2
gh f  12 v f2  gh o  12 v o2

v f  2gh o  h f   v o2

 
v f  2 9.8 m s 2 35.0m   38.0 m s 
2
 46.2 m s
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 Problem Solving with Work-Energy theorem
W  KE f  KE i   KE
• Define the system

W  Wc  Wnc • Determine whether or not nonconservative forces are

present
 KE    PE  Wnc • If only conservative forces are present, apply
conservation of energy and solve for the unknown
THE WORK-ENERGY THEOREM • Select the location of zero gravitational potential energy

Wnc   KE   PE – Do not change this location while solving the

problem

If Wnc = 0 CONSERVATION OF MECHANICAL ENERGY

KE f  PE f  KE i  PE i
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Example 12: Fireworks -- Work-energy theorem

Fireworks: m = 0.20 kg. The nonconservative Wnc  mgh f  mgh o  12 mv f2  12 mv o2
force generated by the burning propellant does

Wnc  mgh f  h o   12 mv f2
425 J of work, the rocket is 29 m above its
starting point. What is the final speed of the
rocket. Ignore air resistance.

WORK-ENERGY THEOREM 425 J 

Wnc  E f  E o 0.20 kg  9.80 m 
s 2 29.0 m 
 12 0.20 kg  v f2

Wnc  mgh f  12 mv f2 
 mgh o  12 mv 2
o  v f  61 m s
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Gravitational Potential Energy Example: Falling Raindrops

PE  mgy Gravitational potential energy: Mass M dropped from height H. What is
speed just before hitting the ground?
Wgravity  PE i  PE f Important: work done by
gravity is related to the difference
(Neglect friction of air)
in gravitational PE’s! W  F  y    PE W  K
V1
 A location where the  (  mg )  (  h) 1 2 1 2
gravitational potential  mv2  mv1
energy is zero must be F = - mg  mgh 2 2
chosen for each problem
y = -h v1  0
 The choice is arbitrary
1 2
since the change in the
potential energy gives the
V2 mgh  mv2
work done
2
v2  2 gh
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 Independence from Path (Conservative Forces) Example: Slowing down with friction force
L V1
V0
M M

Rough spot, coefficient

of friction .
A block of mass M is moving initially with speed V0. It passes over
a rough patch of table of length L. Given the mass M, the initial
Find speed at bottom of the slide speed V0, and the coefficient of friction, find the final speed of the
block.
1 2
Initial 0  mgh  mv  0 Final 1. Draw the picture. 2. What is given? 3. What are the relationships?
2
v 2  2 gh Non-conservative work: WNC  F  L  MgL

v  2 gh
Work-energy: WNC  K
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Example: Slowing down with friction force Power

• Often also interested in the rate at which the energy transfer
L V1
V0 (work done) takes place
M M
• Power is defined as this rate of energy transfer (work done)
Rough spot, coefficient
of friction . Work W
M M
K  V12  V02
Average Power P 
WNC  K Time t
2 2
WNC  F  L  MgL Joules kg  m 2
– SI units are Watts Watts  
M 2 M 2 s s2
 MgL  V1  V0
2 2 horse power 1 hp = 746 W = 0.746 kW

V1  V02  2gL P  Fv
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Power Example: A marathon stair climb

A marathon runner with mass
50.0 kg runs up the stairs to the
top of the Sears Tower (443 m)
in 15.0 minutes. What is her
average power output in Watts ?

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 Example: Power in a Jet Engine
A jet airplane engine develops a thrust (a forward force on
the plane) of 15,000 N. When the plane is flying at 300 m / s
(roughly 600 mi / h), what horsepower does the engine
develop ?
P=Fv
PRINCIPLE OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but
can only be converted from one form to another.
• True for any isolated system.
– i.e. when we put on the brakes, the kinetic energy of the car
is turned into heat using friction in the brakes. The total
energy of the “car-breaks-road-atmosphere” system is the
same.
– The energy of the car “alone” is not conserved...
• It is reduced by the braking.

• Doing “work” on an isolated system will change its

“energy”...
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Overview of Energy Energy and its transformation

• Energy is conserved
Transformation of gravitational
• Kinetic energy describes motion and relates to the
potential energy to kinetic energy
mass of an object and its energy squared
• Energy on earth originates from the sun (nuclear
fusion)
• Chemical energy is released by metabolism
• Energy can be stored as potential energy in an
objects height and mass and also through elastic
deformation
• Energy can be dissipated as heat and noise

Elastic potential energy

stored in a stretched
rubber band
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Energy can be dissipated as heat (molecular motions) Graphical Representation of Work (variable force)

 Split total displacement (xf-xi)

into many small displacements x
 For each small displacement:

Wi  (F cos ) x i

 Thus, total work is:

Wtot   Wi   Fx  x i
i i

which is total area under the F(x) curve!

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 Summary Conservation
of mech. Energy
Work - Energy Theorem

Wtotal  K f  K i   K Ki  Ui  K f  Uf
Conservative Forces:

Wc  U ini  U fin
  U   PE
Gravitational Potential Energy

PE  U  mgy
Average W
Wnc   KE   PE P  Fv
t
Power
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