WORK, ENERGY AND POWER

Introduction
Work, in general, is the means of transferring energy from one body to another or a means
of transforming energy from one form to another.
Work done by a constant force
In physics doing work involves applying a force to an object while moving it a given distance
If we are to do work in the physics sense, two things must happen.
They are:
 a force must be exerted
 while exerting the force, there must be a distance of the object in the direction of the
force.
Consider a box that experiences a constant force ⃗ while undergoing a displacement S
from an initial point O to another point P.

The work done by a constant force is the product of the component of the force in the
direction of the displacement and the magnitude of the displacement.
W  F S cos   F .S  Fx S x  Fy S y
 The SI unit of work is joule (J)
 1J = 1Nm
 Other unit of work in the cgs unit is erg where 1 erg = 1dyne. cm.
 1J =107 erg
 It is a scalar quantity
 work done can be positive, negative or zero
Ex1: What is the work done on a block of mass 10kg, when a force of 20 N, 300 above the
horizontal displaces the block by 5m?
Ex2: A man pushes a stalled vehicle with a steady force = (150i – 40j) N and the displacement
of the car is = (14i+ 11j) m. How much work does the man do on the car?

Ex 3: A man pulls a package along a horizontal floor with a force of 400 N at an angle of 30 o as
shown in fig. A constant frictional force of 100 N acts between the package and
the floor. Find the work done by each force acting on the sled and the total work done by
all the forces.

b
Based on your knowledge of dynamics determine the net force acting on the package of
Example above to show that the total work done on the package is also equal to the net force
on the package times the displacement.
Wtot = Fnet S
Work Done by the Gravitational Force
Figure shows an object of mass m that is thrown upward with initial speed v o and thus with
initial kinetic energy Ko = ½ mv 2.
The work done by the gravitational force is
W = F d cos

Wg = - mgd

Fig. Work done by gravitational force: (a) A mass raised through vertical distance d (b) a
mass lowered through vertical distance d

After the object has reached its maximum height and is falling back down, the angle b/n
force and displacement is zero. Thus, the work done by the gravitational force will be
Wg = mgd cos00 = + mgd

Ex3: A 5 kg bag is raised to a height of 2.5 m above the ground. What is the work done by the
applied force and by the gravitational force?
How would the answer change if the bag were lowered from the same height to the ground?

Ex4: Consider a block of mass m is pushed up a rough inclined plane of angle θ by a constant
Force F parallel to the incline, as shown in Fig. The displacement of the block up the incline is
d.
a) by the applied force
b) by the force of gravity
c) by the normal force
d) by the kinetic friction

? Suppose you apply a constant force F on a mass to displace the mass through distance S. If
you plot the Force-Displacement graph and determine the area of the region enclosed by the
graph, what quantity would you obtain?

WORK DONE BY A VARIABLE FORCE

Suppose a variable force F is acting on a body to displace the body along the x axis where F
is function of x.
What is the work done by this variable force F when the body is displaced from xi to xf?
Work done by a linear variable force.
A linear variable force is directly proportional to the displacement.
E.g. F(x)= (x +2)N.

( ) ( )
Method 1: first find the average force. That is Fav =
The work done is the average force times the displacement ( )
W = (Fav)( ) = Fav(xf - xi)
Method 2:
i) plot F(x) versus X
ii) Determine the area under the graph
iii) Work done = Area under F vs X

Work done in stretching a spring

Suppose that we stretch the spring by an amount x from its equilibrium position.
What is the work done by the restoring force? The top diagram shows the spring at the
equilibrium position, which is labelled x0
equal to zero.

The lower diagram shows the spring

stretched by an amount x at the point that we
are about to let go. The arrow indicates the
direction of the applied force used to stretch
the spring.

We know experimentally that the magnitude of the force exerted to stretch a spring by an
amount x is
F = kx
The constant k is called the spring constant and its unit is Newton per metre.

Note: The restoring force is given by Fres = - kx.

the magnitude of the force exerted to stretch the spring increase linearly from F(0) = 0 to its
maximum value F(xf) = kx

The work done on the spring

is
W = Area
= ½ kx2

Work done by a non-linear variable force.

An example of a non-linear variable force is F(x) = (3+4x2)N, where x is in m.
 Figure Work done by a varying forces = Area under F vs S graph

To find the work done:

i) plot F versus x
ii) divide the total displacement into a large number of small elements each equal to x.
iii) Determine the area of each rectangle W  Fx

The total work done by F in displacing the body from xi to xf is equal to the sum of work done
on every x.
W= ∑ i
Finding the area under the curve in this way will only give us an approximate result. And this
approximate result will get closer to the actual value as the size of the interval delta x gets
smaller.

KINETIC ENERGY AND THE WORK – ENERGY THEOREM

 Energy: is the amount of work that can be performed by a force.
 It is a scalar quantity
 Its unit is joule.
 Energy can exist in various forms, such as heat, sound, electrical, light and mechanical
energy.
 Mechanical energy is two types.

Kinetic energy: is the energy possessed by a body because of its motion.

The faster an object is moving, the more energy it has.
Kinetic energy is given by the equation:
KE = ½ mv2
Suppose a constant force F act on a body and the body change its velocity from initial
velocity u to its final velocity V in moving a distance S in the direction of the applied force F.
Vf

VT

According to Newton’s second law of motion:

F = ma
 So the force acting on the body is:
The work done by the constant force F is given by
W = FS, F = ma F = ma = ( )
W = mas Now the work done on the body
From equation of uniformly accelerated motion W = FS = ( )
V2 = u2 +2as
=
a= =
W = KE Work –energy theorem

Work can be positive, negative or zero based on the motion of the given object.
In uniform motion
V – constant KE  0 W = 0 there is no transfer of energy
KE – constant
In the case of uniformly accelerated motion
V – increase KE - positive ( )
KE – increase W – positive
In the case of uniformly decelerated motion
V – decrease KE - negative (( )
KE – decrease W = negative
Ex A car of mass 1250 kg is travelling at a velocity of 15 m/s due East. The driver
applies the brakes to slow the car down to a velocity of 3 m/s due East.
a) What is the work done in slowing the car down?
b) Assume that the car took 3 seconds to slow down. What was the force of the
brakes?

POTENTIAL ENERGY
Is the energy possessed by an object because of its position or configuration.
Potential energy can exist in different form as gravitational, elastic and chemical potential
energy.
GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY (GPE = Ug)
The energy that an object has as a result of its position in space near the Earth’s
surface is called gravitational potential energy.

Consider a body of mass m moved from an initial height yi to final height yf above an
arbitrary reference plane
the work done by the force of gravity equals negative m
times g times h.

WFg = Fg h cos = mgh cos1800

= - mgh
= - mg( yf - yi )
U = mgh = is called the gravitational potential energy
the work done on an object by the force of gravity is equal to the
negative of the change in gravitational potential energy.

U = - mg( yf - yi ) = -( Uf – Ui) = -
The work done by the external force is equal to the difference in potential energy between
points 1 and 2.

ELASTIC POTENTIAL ENERGY (EPE)

is the amount of work done on a spring to stretch it by a certain distance. It is also the amount
of energy stored in the spring.
Consider a mass - spring system.

Work done by the elastic restoring force (Fs) during an elongation from xi to xf is given by

W = ½ kx2
This work done is stored as elastic potential energy of the spring
Us = ½kx2

Ex. A 125 g mass is attached to a horizontal spring that sits on a frictionless surface. One
end of the spring is attached to a block that is massive. The spring is stretched by 10 cm
and the spring constant is 200 N/m. How much energy is stored in the spring?

The sum of the kinetic energy and potential energy of a body is termed as the total
mechanical energy of the body.
ME = KE + PE

Conservative and Non-conservative Forces (dissipative forces)

Forces are said to be conservative forces if
i) The work done does not depend on the path taken.
ii) The work it does on an object moving through any closed path is zero.
iii) Where only conservative forces are acting, the work done is completely recoverable.
iv) The work done by such forces is related only to the change in potential energy between
the final and initial positions.
Example: gravitational force, Elastic spring force electrostatic force and Buoyancy force

Forces are said to be non – conservative

i)The work done by this force depend on the path taken.
ii) The work it does on an object moving through any closed path is non - zero.
iii) Where only non -conservative forces are acting, the work done is not recoverable.
iv) The mechanical energy is not conserved
Examples: of non-conservative forces are: friction, air resistance.
ME  0
WFnc = Wnc – work done by non-conservative force

Mechanical energy: is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies.

Conservation of Mechanical energy
 Mechanical energy of a body is conserved only when the system is conservative (no dissipative force
act on it.)
 The law of conservation of energy states that is energy is neither created nor destroyed
but it can be transferred from one form to another.
 In the absence of dissipative forces the total energy (ME) is constant.
That is OR ( = 0)
KEi+GPEi+ EPEi = KEf+GPEf+ EPEf

Ex2. Draw the graph that show the relationship between KE and GPE for the case of falling
object
Ex3. Draw the graph that show the relationship between EPE and GPE
Ex4: A 10 kg block is released from rest at the top of a smooth
inclined plane 10 m in length, as shown in Figure 4.48. Find the
speed of the block as it reaches the bottom of the inclined plane.

Ex5: Repeat the question in Example above if the inclined plane

is rough and the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block
and the surface is 0.2.

Ex6: A 2 kg block sliding over a smooth horizontal surface with a constant speed of 8 m/s hits
a horizontal spring whose one end is fixed as shown in Figure 4.49. If the maximum
compression of the spring just before the block comes to rest is 20 cm, what is the spring
constant of the spring?

Power: Is the rate of doing work or rate of transfer of energy

workdone Energytransfered
Power  
timetaken timetaken
SI unit of power is watt(w)
1W = 1J/s
Higher units of power 1KW = 1,000W = 103W
1MW = 1,000,000W = 106W
The power developed by a force applied and the velocity of the object on which the force
applied.
Instantaneous power P is given by
P  w  Fs , s
t t t
P  F .V
p – is scalar physical quantity

Ex1: A 1000 kg elevator car carries a maximum load of 800 kg, Figure. As the elevator
moves upward a constant frictional fore of 4000 N retards its motion. What minimum
power must the motor deliver to lift the loaded elevator car at a constant speed of 2.5
m/s?

Ex2: Two forces F1 = 5N and F2 = 2N along the directions indicated are acting on a box
that slides horizontally to the right across a frictionless surface, as shown in Figur.
Force F1 makes an angle θ = 600 with the horizontal. Force 2 is against the motion. The
speed v of the box at a certain instant is 4 m/s. What is the power due to each force
that acts on the box at that instant, and what is the net power? Is the net power
changing with time?