General Physics 2

February 11, Friday

Contents
1 Work ............................................................................................................................................................. 2
1.1 Negative Work .......................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Calculating the Amount of Work Done by Forces ............................................................................... 3
2 Three in a Row-Work Power and Energy: Mechanical Energy ..................................................... 3
2.1 Potential Energy (Position) ...................................................................................................................... 3
2.1.1 Gravitational Potential Energy ............................................................................................................ 3
2.2 Kinetic Energy (Motion) .......................................................................................................................... 3
1 Work
When a force acts upon an object to cause a displacement of the object, it is said work was done upon
the subject.
There are three key ingredients to work - force, displacement, and cause. There are several good
examples of work that can be observed in everyday life -, a horse pulling a plow through the field, a
father pushing a grocery cart down the aisle of a grocery store, a freshman lifting a backpack full of
books upon her shoulder, a weightlifter lifting a barbel above his head, an Olympian launching the
shot-put, etc. … In each case described here, there is a force exerted upon an object to cause that
object to be displaced.
Work requires force to cause a displacement.
Mathematically, work can be expressed by the following equation:

W = F × d × cosΘ

1.1 Negative Work

On occasion, a force acts upon a moving object to hinder a displacement. Example might include a
car skidding to a stop on a roadway surface or a baseball runner sliding to a stop on the infield dirt.
In such instances, the force acts in the direction opposite the objects motion in order to slow it down.
The force doesn’t cause the displacement but rather hinders it. The negative of negative work
refers to the numerical value that results when values of F, d and Θ are substituted into the work
equation.

2
1.2 Calculating the Amount of Work Done by Forces
A force of 50 N acts on the block at the angle showing the diagram (30). The block moves a horizontal
distance of 3.0 m. How much work is done by the applied force?

W = F × d × cos(Θ)

W = 50N ×3× cos30◦

W = 129.9J

How much work is done by an applied force to life a 15-Newton block 3.0 meters vertically at a
constant speed?

W = 15×3× cos0◦

6,272J

2 Three in a Row-Work Power and Energy: Mechanical Energy

Energy describes the ability of an object to do work. Work is the transfer of energy that happens when
an external force moves an object. There are two main types of energy. They are kinetic energy and
potential energy.

2.1 Potential Energy (Position)

It is the stored energy of position possessed by an object.

2.1.1 Gravitational Potential Energy

The work against gravity; It is the energy stored in an object as the result of its vertical position or
height. The energy is stored as the result of the gravitational attraction of the Earth for the
object.
The higher the height gets, the greater the force.

PEgrav = mass × g × height

2.2 Kinetic Energy (Motion)

Mechanical energy is the sum of the kinetic and potential energy in a system. Objects have
mechanical energy when they are in motion (and a potential to move). The faster an object
moves, the more energy it stores. This stored energy can be used to apply a force to another
object. In other words, it does not work on the object.