Work, Energy

and Power

PHYSICS

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Work, Energy and Power

The work, energy and power are the words which are used in our daily life frequently. “A
person pulling a cart” is said be work done by that person and due to this work done
some energy is lost by the person.

Work
 When a force is applied on a body and there is a displacement of that body along in
the direction of force then the work is said be done by that force.
 The work done is a scalar quantity.
 Work done is denoted by W.
 The SI unit of work is Joule (J) or N m and the CGS unit is erg. The calorie (cal) is
also a unit of work.

Points to Remember
 1 erg = 10-7 Joule = 10-7 N m
 1 cal = 4.186 Joule

Let a force F is acting on a block of mass m at an angle of θ with horizontal and

displaced the block by d displacement as shown in the below figure.

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The work done by a force is defined as: The magnitude of the product of component of
the applied force on the block in the direction of the displacement, is called work done.

Work done (W) = (F Cosθ) × d = F d Cosθ

W= F. d

Here work done (W) is the dot product of force (F) and displacement (d)

No work is done if

Case #1: Force is applied but body is not moving

Let a force F be applied on a wall, but the wall remain stationary. So displacement of
the wall along in the direction of force is zero.
Work done (W) = F d Cosθ = 0
Example: A man is holding a 200 kg of weight on his shoulder for 10 sec. Here
the force is applied by the man in vertical direction while holding the weight but there is
no displacement of the weight in the direction of force. So according to physics there is
no work done by the man.

Case #2: Force applied is zero and body is moving

Let a body be moving on a smooth surface with constant velocity. Here there is no force
applied on the body but there is a displacement of the body. So work done is zero.
Work done (W) = F d Cosθ = 0

Case #3: The force and displacement are mutually perpendicular

If the force is applied on a body but the body is moving in a direction perpendicular to
the force then work done is equal to zero.
Since angle between force and displacement is 90°.
Work done (W) = F d Cos90° = 0
For example: A block is moving on a smooth horizontal surface with constant
velocity. Here gravitational force (equal to weight of the block = mg) is acting on the
block which is perpendicular to the displacement of the block. So work done by gravity
is equal to zero.

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Work done by a variable force

A variable force F is acting on a block which is moving from point x 1 to a point x2. The
work done by a variable force is given by:

Thus the area under the force – displacement

graph gives the work done by the force.

Q. A car after applying the brakes moves by 10 m. The force applied by the
brakes on the tyre is 60 N. Find the work done by the brakes.
A. Given that:
Force (F) = 60 N and Displacement (d) = 10 m
Here brakes are applied that will oppose the motion of the car. So angle between the
force applied by the brakes and the displacement of the car is 180°.
Work done by the brakes (W) = F d Cosθ = 60 × 10 × Cos 180° = - 600 J

Q. A force F = 2x + 3 is applied on a block that moves from origin to x = 2 m. Find

the work done.
A. Given that: force (F) = 2x + 3
Here x1 = 0 to x2 = 2 m

Definition
Force: The interaction which after acting on a body changes or tries to
change the state of rest or state of motion of the body is called force.

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Conservative force: The force whose work done is independent of the path
followed is called conservative force. The work done by the conservative force only
depends on the initial point and the final point. Hence, The work done by a
conservative force in a closed loop is zero.
For example: Gravitational force, Electrostatic force, elastic force

Non-conservative force: If the work done by a force depends on the path

followed by the particle then it is called the non- conservative force.
For example: Friction force, air drag force, etc.

Constant force: The force that doesn’t changes with respect to time and distance
is called constant force. It always remain constant.

Variable force: The force that changes with respect to time and distance is
called variable force. It is a function of either time or distance or velocity etc.

Energy
 The capacity of doing work is called energy.

 It is denoted by E.

 The energy of a particle is a scalar quantity.

 The SI unit or CGS unit of energy is same as that of work. The SI unit of energy is
Joule (J) and the CGS unit of the energy is erg.

 There are mainly two types of energy:

1) Kinetic energy

2) Potential energy

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Kinetic Energy
 The energy of a particle due to its velocity is called kinetic energy.
 It is denoted by KE.
 The kinetic energy is a scalar quantity.

A particle of mass m is moving with velocity V then the kinetic energy is given by:

Q. A toy car of mass 3 kg is moving with 10 m/s on the road. Find the kinetic
energy of the car.
A. Given that:
Mass of the car (m) = 3 kg
Velocity (V) = 10 m/s

Potential Energy
 The energy of any particle due to its position is called potential energy.
 It is denoted By PE or U.
 A reference line is defined for the position of the particle. The ground is taken as
reference line generally.

A particle of mass m is moved from point P to

point Q at a height of h.
Then the potential energy of the particle is given
by:

PE = m g h

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The relationship between the potential energy and the force applied is given by:

Where U is potential energy which is a function of displacement x.

Potential Energy of a Spring

A spring having spring constant K and the deflection of the spring is x. The spring can
either be compressed by x or can be elongated by x length.

Here L0 is the original length of the spring. At equilibrium position, the deflection (x) in
the spring is zero.
The force applied by the spring is given by the hook’s law;

Force (F) = - k x

Here negative sign shows that the direction of force applied is in opposite direction of
the displacement of the particle
The potential energy of the spring is given by:

Q. The potential energy of a particle varies as U = 2 x2 + 3x. Find the force on the
particle at x = 2m.

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A. Given that; U = 2 x2 + 3x
The force is given by:

At x = 2 m
Force (F) = (4 x + 3) = (4 × 2 + 3) =11 N

Common Mistake
The spring force is conservative in nature that is independent of the path followed. It
only depends on initial and final position of the particle.

Various forms of energy

The energy of any object found in many forms. Some of them are given below:

Heat energy
The energy of a particle due to its temperature is called heat energy.
For example: A block moving on a surface comes into rest after some time. Here the
initial kinetic energy of the block is converted into heat energy produced by the friction.
Energy of a hot water is heat energy.

Electrical energy
The energy due to electric current is called electrical energy.
For example: Due to electrical energy a bulb glow, a heater gives heat due to
conversion of electrical energy into heat energy.

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Chemical energy
The energy of a particle due to its chemical bonding is called chemical energy.
The chemical energy arises from the fact that the molecules participating in the
chemical reaction have different binding energies.
For example: The energy of a battery is stored in the form of chemical energy.

Nuclear energy
The energy released during nuclear fission or fusion of a nuclear particle is called
nuclear energy.
For example: During the nuclear fission of Uranium, it releases a huge amount of heat
energy which can be used to operate a nuclear reactor to produce electricity.

The equivalence of mass and energy

According to mass - energy equivalence principle;
“The particle having mass has an equivalent amount of energy and vice versa.”
Thus the relation between mass and energy is given by:

Energy (E) = m c2

Where m is mass of the particle and c is speed of light in vacuum

C = 3 × 108 m/s

Work energy theorem

It is also called principle of work and kinetic energy.
The work energy theorem states that: The total work done by all the forces is equal to
change in kinetic energy of the particle.

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Total work done = change in kinetic energy

Total work done (W) = KEf – KEi

Where KEf is final kinetic energy, KE i is initial kinetic energy, u is initial velocity and V is
final velocity

For a variable force, the work energy theorem is given by:

Q. A cart is moving with velocity 20 m/s on a rough surface stops after few
minutes. Find the work done by the friction by the surface. The mass of the
cart is 4 kg.
A. Given that: Mass of the cart (m) = 4 kg
Initial velocity of the cart (u) = 20 m/s
Final velocity (V) = 0 m/s
Use work energy theorem:

Energy Conservation
According to energy conservation, the total energy of the system remains constant if
the work is done by the conservative force.
In other words: The total energy can never be created nor it can be destroyed. It can
only be converted from one form to another form.

Initial total energy (TEi) = Final total energy (TEf)

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As the total energy of the system is equal to the sum of the kinetic energy and the
potential energy.
Initial PE + Initial KE = Final PE + Final KE

PEi +KEi = PEf + KEf

For example: The electrical energy in a current carrying wire is converted into
heat energy. When a stone is thrown from the top of a building to bottom then the
potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.

Q. A ball of mass 5 kg is thrown up with a velocity of 10 m/s in air. Find the

maximum height attained by the ball.

A. Given that: Mass of the ball (m) = 5 kg

Initial velocity (u) = 10 m/s
Here the ball is thrown upward so at the maximum height, the velocity of the ball
become zero.
Final velocity (V) = 0

As the ball is initially on the ground, so initial PE = 0

Let the maximum height attained by the ball is h

Final PE = m g h = 5 × 10 × h = 50 h
According to conservation of energy:
Initial PE + Initial KE = Final PE + Final KE
0 + 250 = 50 h + 0
Maximum height (h) = 250/50 = 5 m

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Power
 The rate of work done by a force is called power.
 Power is denoted by P.
 The SI unit of power is watt (W) or J/s.
 The unit of power is also horse-power (hp).

Average power
The ratio of total work done to time taken is called average power.

Instantaneous power
The rate of work done per unit time at a particular instant of time is called
instantaneous power.

Since Work done (W) = F. x and

Points to Remember
 1 hp = 746 watt
 1 KWh = 3.6 × 106 J

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Q. The velocity of a particle of mass 2 kg varies as V = 2 t2 +3 t. Find the power of

the particle at time t = 2 sec.

A. Given that: Mass of the particle (m) = 2 kg

V = 2 t2 +3 t
Acceleration (a) of the particle is given by:

Force on the particle (F) = m a = 2 × (4t +3) = 8t + 6

At time (t) = 2 sec
Velocity (V) = 2 × 22 + 3 × 2 = 14 m/s
Force (F) = 8 × 2 + 6 = 22 N
Power is given by:
P = F. V = 22 × 14 = 308 Watt

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