Problem Set 3: Work and Potential Energy

AdDU SHS Peer Tutorials Program

September 19, 2022

PART I. Multiple Choice. The following part is a concept check. Choose the best answer
among the four choices. Each item worth 2 points.

1. Aside from the fact that the formula of work is W = F⃗ · ∆⃗x, what is the other formula
for work?

(a) F x cos ϕ (b) F x tan ϕ (c) F x sin ϕ (d) F x arccos ϕ

2. There is an accident occurred along the highway. A six-wheeler truck collides with a
vehicle from an opposite direction . What kind of work that the truck did to the car?

(a) positive work (b) work (c) zero work (d) negative work

3. Jonas the weightlifter holds the barbell for 30 seconds. What kind of work done by
Jonas on the barbell?

(a) positive work (b) work (c) zero work (d) negative work

4. What do you call a type of energy that is stored in a system/a body?

(a) kinetic energy (b) potential energy (c) chemical energy (d) mechanical energy

5. What do you call a type of energy that is a result of motion of a body

(a) potential energy (b) chemical energy (c) forda energy (d) kinetic energy

6. (From LA9 Pre-Test). Johnna’s shopping cart is initially moving along a frictionless
horizontal surface when she applies a 10-N force to the direction of the cart’s motion.
What happens to the kinetic energy KE of the shopping cart?

(a) The KE of the cart will increase since the total work done on it is negative.

(b) The KE of the cart will increase since the initial KE is less than the final KE.

(c) The KE of the cart will decrease since the initial KE is greater than the final KE.
2 AdDU SHS Peer Tutorials Program

(d) The KE of the cart will decrease since the total work done on it is positive.

7. Complete the statement: When an object is being thrown upwards, its

gravitational potential energy while its kinetic energy .

(a) increases, decreases

(b) increases, increases

(c) decreases, increases

(d) increases, is zero

8. Is negative elastic potential energy P Ee possible? (P Ee ≥ 0)?

(a) Yes. It is possible when you are going to compress an elastic object then its
elongation x is negative.

(b) Yes. It is possible since the force constant k can be chosen arbitrarily.

(c) No. Elastic potential energy is a scalar quantity so it would not make any sense.
1
(d) No. Elastic potential energy is equal to kx2 , and force constant k is always
2
positive in any circumstance and the square of x is always positive regardless of
its value.

9. What are the two factors that affect gravitational potential energy?
(a) mass, velocity (b) mass, speed (c) height, mass (d) velocity, height

10. Which of the following statements is true?

(a) Elastic potential energy decreases when a spring is being compressed.

(b) Elastic potential energy increases when a spring is being formed back to its
original form

(c) Potential energy increases as kinetic energy increases

(d) Potential energy decreases as kinetic energy increases.

PART II. Problem-solving. All of the questions are problems related to the concepts of
work, kinetic energy and potential energy. Each item worth 5 points.

11. In the future, you woke up late in a day that our first face-to-face classes will
commence. As always, you are rushing to prepare yourself for school. After that,
3 AdDU SHS Peer Tutorials Program

suppose you are already 100 m away from the campus and you exert a forward force of
98 N just to arrive at school in time. How much work have you done in this
hypothetical scenario?

12. Josiah found himself in a middle of a jungle. Suddenly, there is a 12.5-kg jackal seeing
him then chasing him who travels from 5 km/h to 12 km/h. He himself has a mass of
75-kg so he ran from rest up to 12.5 km/h. Which one of them spent more work, the
jackal or Josiah?

13. A 25-kg cannon ball was fired from a howitzer during a battle. Before reaching the
maximum height, its altitude that time was 10 meters. At this point, we call it as
point A. When reaching its maximum height, its altitude is now 15 meters. At this
point, we call it as point B. What is the difference of the ball’s gravitational potential
energies in points A and B.

14. A 2-kg balloon is bounced back from the ground to an altitude of 100 cm. When it was
bounced on the ground, the balloon was compressed and it has an elongation x of 5 cm.
Find the total potential energy that it possesses.
4 AdDU SHS Peer Tutorials Program

Answer Key

PART I.

1. (a) 6. (c)

2. (d) 7. (a)

3. (c) 8. (d)

4. (b) 9. (c)

5. (d) 10. (d)

PART II.

11. By the formula of work,

W = F⃗ · ∆⃗x = 98 N · 100 m = 9800 J.

12. Let Wtot1 be the total work done by Josiah while Wtot2 be the total work done by the
jackal. By work-energy theorem, for Wtot1 :
1
Wtot1 = K2 − K1 = (75 kg)((3.472 m/s)2 − 02 ) = 452.1 J .
2
For Wtot2 :
1
Wtot1 = K2 − K1 = (12.5 kg)((3.333 m/s)2 − (1.389 m/s)2 ) = 57.39 J .
2

Therefore we see that Josiah does more work than the jackal for Wtot1 > Wtot2 .

13. Let y1 = 10m and y2 = 15 m. Denote UgravA be the gravitational potential energy of
the ball at point A and UgravB be the gravitational potential energy of the ball at point
B. We see that

UgravB − UgravA = mgy2 − mgy1 = mg(y2 − y1 ).

Substitute the given values in the equation, we get that

UgravB − UgravA = (25 kg)(9.8 m/s2 )(15 m − 10 m) = 1225 J

5 AdDU SHS Peer Tutorials Program

14. Remember that the total potential energy is jsut U = Ugrav + Uel . Finding the
gravitational potential energy Ugrav gives us 19.6 J because

Ugrav = mgh = (2 kg)(9.8 m/s2 )(1 m) = 19.6 J.

To find the elastic potential energy, we use this equation:

1
Uel = kx2 .
2
Remember that the balloon is compressed so our x = −5 cm or 0.05 m. We can solve
this right away by finding first the value of the force constant k. By Hooke’s law,

Fx = kx.

Our Fx is the weight w of the balloon. So,

−19.6 J = (−0.05 m)k ⇐⇒ k = 392 N/m.

Therefore,
1
Uel = (392 N/m)(0.05 m)2 = 0.49 J.
2

Copyright © Josh Robert Obaob, 2022

This material is free of distribution and not for sale.