WORK, ENERGY & POWER

By the end of the unit,

you should be able to….
• analyse, using the principles of energy
transformations, a technology that involves the
transfer and transformation of thermal energy (e.g.,
a power station, an air conditioner, a fuel cell, a laser
printer)
• assess, on the basis of research, how technologies
related to nuclear, thermal, or geothermal energy
affect society and the environment (e.g., thermal
regulating units, radiopharmaceuticals, dry-steam
power plants, ground-source heat pumps)
 Sample Questions
for Research
• What factors are taken into consideration in the design of
golf clubs?
• What element(s) could be changed to improve a club’s
performance?
• How do anti- lock brakes work, and what limitations do
they have?
• What impact does the condition of the road (wet, dry,
smooth, grooved) have on the forces acting on the
braking of a skidding car?
• What are the benefits and limitations of electronic
stability controls (ESC) on automobiles?
 Sample Issues
for Research

• With the rising economic and environmental

costs of heating homes using conventional
methods, geothermal technologies are an
increasingly popular alternative. However,
tapping geothermal heat sources involves
placing kilometres of tubing containing
antifreeze in the ground, which constitutes a
potential environmental hazard.
 Energy & Work
Energy – the ability to do work

Work- the energy transferred to an object by an

applied force over a measured distance.
W Fd
W  Work (Joules, J)
F  Force applied (N)
Δd  displacement (m)
 W Fd (cos  )

θ  angle between the force applied and

the displacement
 Work
Case 1: Positive Work
- If force applied and displacement are in the
same direction

Case 2: Negative Work

- If force applied and displacement are in
opposite directions
Case 3: Work done against gravity
-if the force applied and the displacement are
both vertically upward and no acceleration
occurs the work done against gravity is
positive

Case 4: Zero Work

- If force and displacement are perpendicular
 Illustrating Work Done by Graphs
• Force-position or F-d graph
• Work done is equal to the area under the
curve
• Positive and negative work can
be represented by the area
above the d-axis and the area
below the d-axis respectively.
 Quick Question
1) A 0.50 kg laboratory dynamics cart with an
initial velocity of 3.0 m/s [right] accelerates for
2.0 s at 1.2 m/s2 [right] when pulled by a
string. Assume no friction.
a) Calculate the force exerted by the string on
the cart.
b) Calculate the displacement of the cart.
c) Calculate the mechanical work done by the
string on the cart.
 Quick Question
2) A father pulls a child on a toboggan along a
flat surface with a rope angled at 35.0 degrees
above the horizontal. The total mechanical
work done by the father over a horizontal
displacement of 50.0 m is 2410 J. Determine
the work done on the toboggan by the normal
force and the force of gravity, explain your
reasoning.
 Kinetic Energy
Kinetic Energy – ( E) –k the energy possessed by an object
due to its motion

1 2
Ek  mv
2
Extension:
From the work equation derive the kinetic energy
equation
 Quick Practice
1) A 70.0 kg athlete is running at 12m/s in the
100.0 m dash. What is the kinetic energy of
the athlete?

2) A 150g bird goes into a dive, reaching a

kinetic energy of 30.0J. What is the speed of
the bird?
What does this mean?
 Work-Energy Principle
The net amount of mechanical work done on an
object equals the object’s change in kinetic
energy.

Wnet Ek f  Eki

mv 2fmvi2
Wnet  
2 2
 Quick Practice
1) A 52 kg ice hockey player moving at 11m/s
slows down the stops over a displacement of
8.0 m. Calculate the net force on the skater
 Gravitational Potential Energy
Gravitational Potential Energy – ( E)g – The energy
possessed by an object because of its position
relative to a lower position.

E g mgh
Extension:
Using the work equation derive the equation from
gravitational potential energy
 Quick Practice
1) A 58 kg person walks down the flight of stairs,
which is 6.0 m high. The landing is at the half way
point.
a) Calculate the person’s gravitational potential
energy at the top of the stairs, on the landing, and
at the ground level
b) What happens to gravitational potential energy as
you go down a flight of stairs? What happens to
gravitational potential energy as you climb a flight
of stairs?
 Mechanical Energy
The sum of kinetic energy and gravitational
potential energy.

Em Ek  E g
Energy Transformations
The Law of Conservation of Energy

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it can

only change from one form to another. No
energy is lost.

Bowling ball video

 Quick Practice
1) A 0.20 kg ball is thrown straight up from the edge of a
30.0 m tall building at a velocity of 22.0m/s. The ball
moves up to a maximum height and then falls to the
ground at the base of the building. Ground level is the
reference level
a) What is the total energy of the ball at the start when it
had a velocity of 22.0 m/s?
b) What is the velocity of the ball at the maximum
height? What is the maximum height of the ball?
c) What is the velocity of the ball when it hits the
ground?
Types of Energy
 Efficiency
The amount of useful energy produced in an
energy transformation expressed as a percentage
of the total amount of energy used.

Eout
efficiency  100%
Ein
 Quick Practice
1) A forklift uses 5200 J of energy to lift a 50.0 kg
mass to a height of 4.0 m at a constant speed.
What is the efficiency of the forklift?
 Power

The rate of transforming energy or doing work

E OR Wnet
P P
t t
 Quick Practice
1) A mountain climber with a mass of 55 kg
starts from a height of 850 m above sea level
at 9 in the morning and reaches a height of
2400 m by noon. What is the climbers
average power?
2) A 60 kg person accelerates from rest to 12
m/s in 6.0s. What is the person’s power?
 Electrical Power
• Electrical devices transform electrical energy
into other forms of energy
• When energy is transformed quickly, devices
are more powerful
• When energy is transformed slowly, devices
are less powerful
• Power rating is the maximum power of the
device
 Quick Practice
1) Twenty incandescent light bulbs are turned on for
12h a day for an entire year to light up a store. Each
bulb has a power rating of 100.0 W. The average
cost of electricity is 6.0¢/kWh.
a) Determine the total amount of energy used by the
bulbs in the year.
b) Calculate the cost of lighting the store for the year.
c) How much money could be saved by using CFL’s
instead. If each CFL has a power rating of 23W?