Energy, Work, & Power

Portia A. Egken
What is energy & why do we need it?
• Energy – the ability to do work
• Work – moving an object by exerting a force
• Force – a push or a pull
• Whenever force is used to move an object, energy is
required
• EX. When you walk, your muscles pull on your bones in
order to move your body. This requires your muscles to use
energy.
What is energy & why do we need it?
• Without energy, there could be no motion
• Atoms and molecules could not move
• Stars could not shine
• Planets could not orbit around stars
• Animals could not walk, run, swim, or fly
• The wind could not blow
• Messages could not be sent from your brain to your body
 Is work being done when you hold a
book over your head?
• No
• But it did take work to get it there
• Whenever work is being done,
energy is being used
• The energy was transferred from
your body to the book
 How much work is being
done?
• We can measure the amount of work being done to move an
object
• We need to know 2 things in order to measure work:
1. The amount of force being used
2. The distance of the movement
• We can calculate work using the following formula:
Work = Force x Distance (W = F d)
Calculating Work – Which
Units?
• When calculating work, use the following units:
• Force is measured in newtons (N)
• Distance is measure in meters (m)
• Work is measured in joules (J)
• 1 joule equals 1 newton multiplied by 1 meter
• You do about 1 joule of work when you lift an
apple above your head
Calculating with Work –Problem #1

• If you lift a 3 N book 2 meters off the floor, how

much work did you do?
• W=Fxd
• W = 3N x 2m
• W=6J
Calculating with Work –Problem #2

• A man pushes a couch a distance of 0.75 m. If 113

J of work is done, what is the magnitude of the
force applied??
• F=W÷d
• F = 113 J / 0.75 m
• F = 151 N
Calculating with Work –Problem #3

• It requires 3480 J to move a 675 N object how far?

• d=W÷F
• d = 3480 J / 675 N
• d = 5.16 m
Calculating with Work –Problem #4

• The 3rd floor of a house is 8 m above street level.

How much work is needed to move a 150 kg
refrigerator to the third floor?
• W = Fd
• F = mg (150 kg x 9.8 m/s2)=1470 N
• W = 1470 N x 8 m
• W = 11760 J
Calculating with Work –Problem #5

• A toy truck is pushed across a table 0.80 m north

and pulled back 0.80 m south. If a constant
horizontal force of 15 N was applied in both
directions, what is the net work?
• Displacement = 0 (same distance N and S)
• No motion = no work done
 Question
• When you carry a heavy bag of groceries from your car to your
kitchen, what does work, your arms or your legs? Explain why.
• Your legs, because they move you and the groceries from the
car to the kitchen. Your arms only lift and hold the groceries.
 Energy Is Also Measured In
Joules
• Since energy is required to do work, it is measured
using the same unit (joules)
• The amount of energy required to do work is
ALWAYS greater than or equal to the amount of
work being done
• EX. If you do 6J worth of work to lift a book, you
need at least 6J of energy to do it
Doing Work Gives Energy to Objects
• When work is done on an object:
• Energy is transferred from the object doing the work to the object
having work done on it
• The object doing the work loses energy
• The object having work done on it gains energy
• EX. A student pushing a desk across the floor is doing work on
the desk – energy is transferred from the student to the desk
and the student loses energy
Why do we get tired after doing work?
• We give up our energy to all the objects we touch and move
around
• In any energy transfer in our body, some energy is changed to
heat and transferred to our environment – the energy is LOST
from our body
• Staying alive requires a lot of energy
• Heart beating, brain sending messages, cells moving substances in and
out, muscle contractions, etc.
• As our body’s energy gets low, we get tired
 What is power?

• Power – the rate at which work is done

• More power means…
• More work is done in the same amount of time
• The same amount of work is done in less time
• EX. A person that is a more powerful runner is faster and can run
farther in the same amount of time as a less powerful runner (more
work in equal time)
• EX. A car with a more powerful engine can accelerate to 60mph
faster than a car with a less powerful engine (equal work in less
time)
Calculating Power

• Power is measure in watts (W)

• We need to know 2 things in order to measure power:
1. The amount of work being done
2. The amount of time it takes to do the work
• We can calculate power using the following formula:
Power = Work / Time (P = W / t)
• 1 watt equals 1 joule divided by 1 second
 Calculating Power – Sample
Problem 1
• If an engine does 100,000 joules of work in 10
seconds, how much power did it use?
• P=W/t
• P = 100,000J / 10s
• P = 10,000W
• The engine used 10,000 watts of power
Calculating Power – Sample
Problem 2
• Because work equals force multiplied by distance, another way
to write the power formula is:

Power = (Force x Distance) / Time

P = (F x d) / t

• P = W / t is the same as P = (F x d) / t
 Calculating Power – Sample
Problem 2
• If an engine exerts 3500 newtons of force to move a car
50 meters in 10 seconds, how much power did it use?
• P = (F x d) / t
• P = (3500N x 50m) / 10s
• P = 175,000J / 10s
• P = 17,500W
• The engine used 17,500 watts of power
A Watt Measures Work Done and
Energy Used In an Amount of Time

• A Watt equals 1 Joule per second

• The more watts, the more work is done each
second
• Joules also measure energy, so a watt also measures
energy use per second
• EX. A 100W light bulb uses 100J of energy each
second that it is on
 More about Energy
Different Forms of Energy
1. Electrical
2. Chemical
3. Radiant
4. Thermal
5. Mechanical
KINETIC ENERGY (KE)
-The energy of MOTION
-All moving objects have Kinetic Energy!
-Depends on: MASS and SPEED of the object
-Equation:
Kinetic Energy (KE) = ½ x mass x velocity
squared
KE = 1/2mv2
-Joule (J) = SI unit for Energy
Sample Problem
-A jogger whose mass is 60kg is moving at a speed of 3 m/s. What
is the jogger’s Kinetic Energy?
Mass = 60kg
KE = 1/2mv2
Velocity = 3 m/s
KE = 1/2(60kg)(3m/s)2
KE = ??J
KE = 270 J
POTENTIAL ENERGY (PE)
-The energy of REST
-Objects at REST have POTENTIAL ENERGY
-Potential Energy is CHANGED into KINETIC ENERGY when
MOTION occurs
TYPES OF POTENTIAL ENERGY
1. Elastic Potential Energy = Energy stored by something that can be
STRETCHED or COMPRESSED
Ex: Rubber band
2. Chemical Potential Energy = Energy stored in CHEMICAL BONDS
Ex: Food, Natural gas
3. Electrical Potential Energy = Energy stored due to ELECTRICAL
CHARGES
4. Nuclear Potential Energy = Energy stored in the NUCLEI OF ATOMS
TYPES OF POTENTIAL ENERGY
5. Gravitational Potential Energy: Energy stored by objects due to their
POSTION ABOVE EARTH
-Ex: Anything with the potential to FALL
-Depends on: MASS and HEIGHT above ground
-Equation:
GPE (J) = Mass (kg) X gravity (m/s2) X height (m)
GPE = mgh
 GPE Example Problem
-What is the GPE of a ceiling fan that has a mass of 7kg and is
4m above the ground?

GPE = mgh GPE = (7kg)(9.8m/s2)(4m)

Gravity = 9.8 m/s2 = 274 kgm2/s2 = 274 J
Mass = 7 kg
Height = 4 m
To INCREASE GPE
1: INCREASE object’s HEIGHT
2. INCREASE object’s MASS
The Change of GPE to KE
-As objects fall, GPE is changed into KE
-KE is LARGEST right before the object hits
the ground, thus GPE is the SMALLEST right
before hitting the ground
-Objects with MORE GPE move FASTER
because they have more KE
 Converting between KE and PE

-MECHANICAL ENERGY = Total amount of POTENTIAL and

KINETIC energy in a system
Mechanical energy = PE + KE

What happens to the mechanical energy as PE and KE are converted into

each other?

ME stays the same!! As PE and KE are

converted, the FORM of energy changes, but the
TOTAL AMOUNT STAYS THE SAME
 The Law of Conservation of Energy
-States that: ENERGY CAN’T BE CREATED OR
DESTROYED!!
-So does this mean the total amount of energy in the Universe is
the same at all times???

Friction and Air Resistance

These forces can cause some mechanical energy to change into

THERMAL ENERGY!!
TEMPERATURE
-TEMPERATURE = Measure of the AVERAGE
KINETIC ENERGY of the particles in an object
-As temp. INCREASES = Average SPEED of
particles INCREASE = KE INCREASES
-SI UNIT: Kelvin (K) or Celsius (0C)
THERMAL ENERGY
Sum of the KINETIC and POTENTIAL energy of all the particles in an
object
THERMAL ENERGY & TEMPERATURE

-As KE INCREASES =
TEMPERATURE INCREASES
THUS
-As TEMP INCREASES =
THERMAL ENERGY INCREASES
THERMAL ENERGY & MASS
-As MASS INCREASES = total KE INCREASES
THUS
-AS MASS INCREASES = THERMAL ENERGY INCREASES