Work and Energy

Introduction:
In the previous two chapters, we learned how to study the motion of an object using
kinematics and dynamics.

In kinematics, it was question to describe the motion of an object independently of the cause
that led to it. Describing the motion relied on defining important concepts such as position,
displacement, velocity and acceleration of an object. Successive positions of the object lead to
the description of its path or trajectory.

In dynamics however, it was question to link the motion of an object to its cause: the force. It
became clear to us that no object at rest or in uniform motion on a straight line can change its
state of motion if no force is impressed on it (first Newton’s law). The second Newton’s law
gives a direct relationship between the net force applied on the object and the acceleration it
has.

However in many cases, the use of the second Newton’s second law is not simple due to
complicated systems, like for example systems made of so many interacting particles.
Mathematically equivalent methods to study the motion of objects have been invented. These
methods involve the definition of new concepts in physics such as work, kinetic energy,
potential energy, etc. One very important principle, however, is the principle of the Constance
of energy.

Work done by constant force:

Let’s consider three similar objects on frictionless horizontal surfaces subjected to forces of
the same strength and different directions during the same time interval.

F1
F2

A B
(a) (b)

F3
F(CD)

C D C D
(c)
(d)
Figure 1

We see that, for the same time interval, the object which is subjected to the force that is
parallel to the direction of the motion (Figure 1. b) moved the longest distance, the one that is
subjected to the force with an oblique direction moved a shorter direction (Figure 1. c).
However, the object subjected to the force that is perpendicular to the direction of the motion
did not move at all (Figure 1. a).

In the last experiment (Figure 1. d), a similar object is subjected to a horizontal force, which
strength is the same as the component an oblique force on the horizontal direction. We see
that, for the same time interval, the object moved exactly the same distance as in case of the
oblique applied force.

These examples show that to make the object moving in a given direction, we need to apply a
force that should have a non zero component along that direction.

In physics, we define the work W done by the constant force F to move the object for a
displacement d (Figure 2) as: F

W F d cos(d , F ) F d cos

W F d, A B
Figure 2

ML ML2
The (S.I) unit of work: Joule (1 J= 1N m), W F d L .
T2 T2

- From the definition of the work, we see that if the direction of the considered force is
perpendicular to the displacement, the work done by such a force is zero.

- If many forces F1 , F2 , F3 ,…are applied on a given system such that: FNet F1 F2 F3 ...
the work done by the net force is:

W ( FNet ) W ( F1 ) W ( F2 ) W ( F3 ) ...

Example 1:
Let’s consider a bloc of mass M on an incline being pulled by a cord (Figure 3). Determine
the work done by each force involved when the bloc has moved a distance d along the incline
in the following cases:
y
a. The bloc slides up at a constant speed N x
T
b. The bloc slides up at a constant acceleration a

Fg
Figure 3

We have:
 a. W ( FNet ) W ( Fg ) W ( N ) W (T ) let’s compute each term:

W ( Fg ) Fg d Fg d cos(Fg , d ) , from the figure we see that the angle: ( Fg , d ) so

2

W ( Fg ) Fg d cos( ) Fg d sin mgd sin

2
W (T ) T d T d cos(T , d ) T d , in the other hand according to the second Newton’s

law, we have: Fext / 0 T Fg N 0 (the bloc slides up at constant speed) resolving

(ox) : T mg sin 0 T mg sin

on x and y axis we get:
(oy ) : N mg cos 0 N mg cos

So we get: W (T ) T d mgd sin

W (N ) N d T d cos(N , d ) T d cos 0
2

Finally, the work of the net force is given by:

W ( FNet ) W ( Fg ) W ( N ) W (T ) mgd sin mgd sin 0 0

b. When the bloc slides up at constant acceleration, we’ll have:

W ( FNet ) W ( Fg ) W ( N ) W (T ) let’s compute each term:
W ( Fg ) mgd sin

W (T ) T d , in the other hand according to the second Newton’s law, we have:

Fext / a T Fg N a resolving on x and y axis we get:

(ox) : T mg sin ma x ma T ma mg sin

(oy ) : N mg cos ma y 0 N mg cos

So we get: W (T ) T d m( g sin a )d
W (N) 0

Finally we get for the work of the net force:

W ( FNet ) W ( Fg ) W ( N ) W (T ) mgd sin m( g sin a) d 0 mad

Notice that, since the forces here are constant (in magnitudes and directions), we could have
used that: W ( FNet ) FNet d where FNet 0 in the first case and FNet ma in the second case,
the result is exactly the same.

Work done by varying force: case of 1D motion:

Let’s consider an object moving along a horizontal axis under a non constant force (Figure 4),
what is the work done by the applied force when the object has moved from an initial position
(xi) to a final position (xf)?

Figure 4

Fx(ML/T2)
B2
X
If we consider that the strength of the component of

the force along the x axis is almost constant (doesn’t vary B1

X

to much) when the object is displaced an amount xi , x = Dashed area

then the work done during this elementary displacement is:

O xi x xf x(L)
Wi F ( xi i ) Fxi xi
Figure 5

We could subdivide the total displacement x to a number N of small displacements so that

the total work done is given by:

W Fxi xi as the elemental displacement are made even smaller the result is made more
i

precise finally we get the work given by:

xf

W Fx ( x)dx , graphically, this is given by the area the curve of Fx(x) between xi and xf
xi

(Figure 5).

Example 2:
Let’s consider a mass m attached to a spring on a horizontal frictionless plane, we want to
calculate the work done on the mass m to bring it slowly from a position x1 to apposition x2
(Figure 6)

To bring the mass from an initial position t a different final position, we need to apply an
external force, which we choose to have a horizontal direction.
Because the motion is slow, we can assume that at every position,
the applied force has exactly the same magnitude as the tension
applied by the spring on the mass, so: F T kxi
the work done by the force is then:
xf xf
T1 x1 F1
1
W (F ) F ( x)dx kxdx k ( x 22 2
x )
1
xi xi
2
T2 x2 F2
However, the work done by the spring on the mass is:
xf xf
1 Figure 6
W (T ) T ( x)dx kxdx k ( x12 x22 )
xi xi
2

Kinetic energy and the work energy theorem

Case of constant applied force

We consider first the case of an object moving along horizontal axis and subjected to a net
constant force F the work done from an initial position (xi) to a final position (xf) is:

dv x vx vx2 v x1
W F x ma x x , because the acceleration is constant then: a x
dt t t
x 1 t
in the other hand, we have: vavx (v x 2 v x1 ) x (v x 2 v x1 ) replacing in the
t 2 2
previous equation we get:

vx2 v x1 t mv x22 mv x21

W ma x x m (v x 2 v x1 ) as it can be seen, we can define a
t 2 2 2
mv 2
new form of energy, which we call kinetic energy K by: K , the previous relation
2
becomes: W K2 K1 K

General case
Now we consider the case of an object of mass m moving under the action of net force F , if
dr is the infinitesimal displacement du to the applied force F (r ) we have:

dW F dr Fx dx Fy dy Fz dz W Fx dx Fy dy Fz dz

dv x mv x2
Let’s focus on one term only namely: Fx dx ma x dx m dx mv x dv x we get
dt 2
two similar terms, finally the work done to bring the object from an initial position ri to a
final position r f is:

m 2
W (v f vi2 ) K2 K1 K
2
We conclude that the work done by the net force applied to an object of mass m to bring it
from an initial position to a final position is equal to the change of the kinetic energy of the
object between the two positions.

Example 3:
Consider an object in free fall with no initial speed (Figure 7), compute its speed when it
reaches the ground.

m 2 m 2
we have: K W ( Fg ) Fg h mgh (v f vi2 ) vf
2 2
Fg
vf 2 gh
h

Figure 7
Example 4:
A bloc of mass m is launched with a constant speed v0 towards a spring at its natural length on
a frictionless horizontal plane (Figure 8). Using the kinetic energy work theorem, find the
v0
maximum compression of the spring.

Let’s first calculate the change in the kinetic energy of the bloc

from the time it strikes the spring (v1 = v0) to the time when the x0=0

spring reaches its maximum compression (v2 = 0):

xmax T
m 2 m 2
K (v 2 v12 ) v0 in the other hand the net work done on the Figure 8
2 2

bloc is only due to the tension applied by the spring on the bloc, namely:
xmax xmax
1 1 2
W ( FNet ) W (T ) T ( x)dx kxdx k ( x02 2
xmax ) kxmax
x0 x0
2 2

m
From the kinetic energy work theorem, we have: K W ( FNet ) xmax v0
k

Power
Let’s consider two blocs m1 and m2 (m2 < m1) at rest on horizontal frictionless planes, we
apply a horizontal constant force of the same magnitude on each bloc to move each of them
the same distance.
 F

Figure 9

The work done on each bloc is the same, namely: W ( F/ m1 ) W ( F/ m2 ) F x , since the
masses are different, for the same distances travelled, the speeds reached by the blocs are
different, but the change in their kinetic energies are the same, because the same work is done
by the force F on each bloc. So we have:

W ( F/ m1 ) W ( F/ m2 ) K1 K2 F x.

We can show that the time t1 taken to move the bloc m1, is longer than the time t2 taken to
move the bloc m2. We understand that, for the same distance, it is easier to move the bloc m2
than the bloc m1, though the same work is done on both of them. This example shows that we
need to define a new concept, called Power spent on each bloc which is given by:

W ( F/ m1 ) W ( F/ m2 )
Power spent on m1 : P1 Power spent on m2 : P2
t1 t2

We see that: P1 < P2.

In general, we define the mechanical power done on a system by:

dW
P
dt

Let F a given force applied on a system S, we express the power spent on the system due to
the applied force by:

dW F dr
P F v
dt dt

W
The average power spent by the work W in the time interval t is given by: Pav
t

the international units of the power is the watt, we have: 1 W = 1J s-1.

Exercises y
Exercise 01:
B
A force acting on an object in the xy plane, is given by:

F 3 y i 4 x j (N)
x
O A

Figure 10

Find the work done by the force when the particle is displaced from the origin to the final
position B(3.0,3.0) along the following paths:

a. OA-AB
b. OB.
c. Is the force conservative? Explain.

Exercise 02:

A system made of a mass m = 0.20 kg and a spring the constant of which k = 100 N/m, is at
rest on a horizontal surface characterized by a static friction coefficient s = 0.60 and a kinetic
friction coefficient k = 0.30.

a. At what maximum elongation the spring can be stretched before it starts oscillating?
b. The spring is stretched to an initial position x0 = 2.0 cm, then released. Find the
maximum compression of the spring in its first oscillation? Take g = 9.8 m/s2.

Exercise 03:
Let’s consider a sliding object of a mass m, on a frictionless half sphere surface of a radius R,
as shown in Figure 10. a. We assume that the object starts with an initial horizontal velocity v0
.

a- Find the expression of the work done by the force of the gravity when the object
moves from A to B as a function of the angle , g and R.

b- Find the expression of the object’s speed at the point B as a function of the angle , g
and R. vmin
A

c- Find the angle at which the object leaves the half sphere. B

Figure 10. a
 d- What should be the minimum initial speed vmin if we want that the object will not hit
the sphere once again after it leaves the point A (Figure 10. b)?

A vmin

Figure 10. b

Exercise 04:
A force F 2.00i 5.00 j 4.00k (N) acts on an object taking it from the initial position
r1 3.50i 2.40 j 5.20k (m) to the final position r2 4.50i 5.00 j 7.50k (m) in 5.00
sec. Find:
a. The work done by the force on the object to bring it from its initial position to its final
position.
b. The angle between the displacement vector and the force F .
c. The average power due to the applied force during that time interval.

Exercise 05:
A point like object can slide along the track shown in Figure 11. The track is frictionless
except in the horizontal part BC of length L = 45.0cm, where the kinetic friction coefficient is
k = 0.135. The object is released from rest at the point A which is at a height h = L/3. At the
end, the particle stops at the point F.
a. How many times the object has run on the full horizontal part BC before it stops?
b. Calculate the distance BF
A

h
B F C

Exercise 06: Figure 11

A shopper pushes a cart at a constant velocity, by applying a constant force which makes an
angle 15º under the horizontal as shown in Figure 12. The total mass of the cart is 8.0 kg, and
the distance travelled is 35 m.
Compute the work done by all forces involved in this case. F
The kinetic friction coefficient k = 0.20 and g = 9.80 m/s2.

Figure 12
Exercise 07:

A force acting on a particle moving in xy plane is given by:

F ayi bx 2 j (N) where x and y are in m.
a. What are the units of the constants a and b?
Let’s take a = 1.0 (in its units) and b = 1.0 (in its units).

b. Compute the work done by the force on the particle, when it moves from the origin to
the point C(5.0,5.0) along the following paths: y
OAC
C
OBC B
OC
Is the force conservative or non-conservative? Explain.
x
O A
Figure 13

Exercise 08:
A car of a mass M propelled by an engine that can develop a maximum constant power P, is
moving at a constant speed along an incline that makes an angle with respect to the
horizontal.
Find the maximum speed that can be reached by the car in the following cases:
a. The total frictions applied on the car while moving is equivalent to a constant force f .
b. The total frictions applied to the car while moving depend on the velocity of the car
and is given by: f kv .

Exercise 09:

A block at an initial height h0 slides down with no initial speed on a curved frictionless track
and then up an inclined plane as in Figure 14. The kinetic friction coefficient between the
inclined plane and the block is k.

1. Find the expression of the maximum height hmax reached by the block in terms of h,
and k.
2. Calculate the value of k when h0 = 0.5 m, hmax = 0.3 m and = 30°.

h0
hmax

Figure 14
Exercise 10 :

A point particle is moving under the action of a force given by:

F 3x 2 i (2 xz y) j z k (N)

The particle moves from the origin O (0,0,0) to the point A (2,1,3) (m).

a. Represent the force vector at the point A.

b. Compute the work done by the force given above when the particle moves along the
line that joins the two points O and A.
In order to do so you need first to find the relationship that relates x to y (x(y)) and z
to y (z(y)) along the line that joins the two points.
c. Compute the work done by the same force when the
particle moves along the curve which coordinates
are given by: z

x = 2t2 , y = t, z = 4t2 – t (m),

A
from t = 0 s to t = 1 s.

d. What can you say about this force? O

y

Figure 15
x