CHANGES IN MECHANICAL ENERGY

POWER
FOR NONCONSERVATIVE FORCES
 MECHANICAL ENERGY & NONCONSERVATIVE
FORCES
If several forces act (conservative & nonconservative):
The total work done is: Wnet = WC + WNC
 WC = work done by conservative forces
 WNC = work done by non-conservative forces

The work energy principle still holds:

Wnet = K
For conservative forces (definition of U):WC = -U
 K = -U + WNC
 WNC = K + U
Work done by Nonconservative Forces =
Total change in K + Total change in U
 MECHANICAL ENERGY & NONCONSERVATIVE
FORCES, 2
The work done against friction is greater along
the red path than along the blue path
Because the work done depends on the path,
friction is a nonconservative force
 MECHANICAL ENERGY & NONCONSERVATIVE
FORCES, 3
If the work done against the kinetic friction depends on the path taken. As the
moves moves from A to B.

W≡– ƒkd (8.13)

d is greater for the curve path so W is greater.

The work done by the nonconservative force ƒk is: ƒ

WNC ≡ – kd
Since: WNC = K + U 
 MECHANICAL ENERGY & NONCONSERVATIVE
FORCES, FINAL
In general, if friction is acting in a system:
Emech = K + U = –ƒkd (8.14)
 U is the change in all forms of potential energy
If friction is zero, this equation becomes the same as
Conservation of Mechanical Energy
POWER
Power is the rate of doing work or of transferring heat, i.e the amount of energy
transferred or converted per unit time. Having no direction, it is a scalar quantity. In
the international system of units, the unit of power is joule per second(J/s), known as
the watt in honour of james watt, the eighteenth-century developer of the condenser
steam engine. Another common and traditional measure of a horsepower. Being the
rate of work, the equation for power can be written

P=E/t
P=Fv
P= Vi