PHYSICS

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 0

 Chapter IV
WORK, ENERGY AND POWER

Learning Objectives

 Determine the work done by a force (constant or variable) acting on a system

 Relate the work done by a constant force to the change in kinetic energy of a
system
 Apply the work-energy theorem to obtain quantitative and qualitative conclusions
regarding the work done, initial and final velocities, mass and kinetic energy of a
system.
 Relate the gravitational potential energy of a system or object to the
configuration of the system
 Express the conservation of energy verbally and mathematically
 Solve problems involving work, energy, and power

5.1 Work
We can define work as an activity involving a movement and force in the
direction of the force. Work is done whenever a force results in a displacement.
All other things being equal, applying a greater force should result in more work
being done. Likewise, exerting a given force over a greater distance should result
in more work being done.
Work is best defined by an equation: W =F . d cosθ

where, W = work done

F = force exerted
d = displacement

Sample Problem:
1. A crate is moved across a
frictionless floor by a rope
that is inclined 30 degrees
above horizontal. The
tension in the rope is 50 N.
How much work is done in
moving the crate 10 meters?

Given: F=50 N d=10 m θ=30°

Solution:

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 1

 W =F . d cosθ

Substituting the values,

W =(50 N )(10 cos 30 °)
W =433 J

Practice Exercises:
1. An object is horizontally dragged across the surface by a 100 N force
acting parallel to the surface. Find out the amount of work done by the
force in moving the object through a distance of 8m.

2. A 10 kg object experiences a horizontal force which causes it to

accelerate at 5 m/s 2, moving it a distance of 20 m, horizontally. How much
work is done by the force?

3. A 5 kg block is moved up a 30 degree incline by a force of 50 N, parallel to

the incline. The coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and the
incline is .25. How much work is done by the 50 N force in moving the
block a distance of 10 meters?

4. Wendel has just arrived at the airport and is dragging her suitcase to the
luggage check-in desk. He pulls on the strap with a force of 190 N at an
angle of 35° to the horizontal to displace it 45 m to the desk. Determine
the work done by Wendel on the suitcase.

5. Earl is out with her friends. Misfo occurs and Earl and his friends find
themselves getting a workout. They apply a cumulative force of 1080 N to
push the car 218 m to the nearest fuel station. Determine the work done
on the car.

6. Dexter Full is pulling on a rope to drag his backpack to school across the
ice. He pulls upwards and rightwards with a force of 22.9 Newtons at an
angle of 35 degrees above the horizontal to drag his backpack a
horizontal distance of 129 meters to the right. Determine the work (in
Joules) done upon the backpack.

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 2

 7. Lamar Gant, U.S. powerlifting star, became the first man to deadlift five
times his own body weight in 1985. Deadlifting involves raising a loaded
barbell from the floor to a position above the head with outstretched arms.
Determine the work done by Lamar in deadlifting 300 kg to a height of
0.90 m above the ground.

8. While training for breeding season, a 380 gram male squirrel does 32
pushups in a minute, displacing its center of mass by a distance of 8.5 cm
for each pushup. Determine the total work done on the squirrel while
moving upward (32 times).

5.2 Mechanical Energy

Mechanical energy is often confused with Kinetic and Potential Energy.
Mechanical energy is the sum of kinetic and potential energy in an object that is
used to do work. In other words, it is energy in an object due to its motion or
position, or both.

Potential Energy
Potential energy is energy an object has because of its position relative to
some other object. When you stand at the top of a stairwell you have more
potential energy than when you are at the bottom, because the earth can pull you
down through the force of gravity, doing work in the process. When you are
holding two magnets apart they have more potential energy than when they are
close together. If you let them go, they will move toward each other, doing work
in the process.
Gravitational potential energy is energy due to position of an object
relative to the Earth’s ground. Gravitational potential Energy is given by the
formula
U G =mgh

Where m is the mass of the object, g is the magnitude of the acceleration

due to gravity, and h is the height where the object is located. Note that the
reference point for zero gravitational potential energy is the ground.

Sample Problem:
1. A 35kg child climbs a 6m long slide that is 30° with the horizontal. What is
the gravitational potential energy of the child with respect to the ground
when she reaches the top of the slide?

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 3

Solution:
U G =mgh
2
U G =(35.0 kg)(9.81 m/s )(6.00 m)sin 30 °

U G =1029 J

Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy is energy possessed by an object in motion. The earth
revolving around the sun, you walking down the street, and molecules moving in
space all have kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is directly proportional to the mass
of the object and to the square of its velocity, given by the formula
1 2
K= mv
2
If the mass has units of kilograms and the velocity of meters per second,
the kinetic energy has units of kilograms-meters squared per second squared.
Kinetic energy is usually measured in units of Joules.

Sample Problem:
1. Which has greater kinetic energy: a 2.0kg moving at 3m/s or a 3.0kg body
moving at 2m/s? Why is this so?
Solution:
1 2 1 2
K 1= m v K 2= m v
2 2

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 4

 1 2 1 2
K 1= (2.0 kg)(3.0 m/s ) K 2= (3.0 kg)(2.0 m/s )
2 2

K 1=9.0 J K 2=6.0 J

The 2.0kg body has greater kinetic energy than a 3.0kg body.

Practice Exercises:
1. A 1 kg rock is at a height of 100 meters. What is the rock’s gravitational
potential energy at 100 meters high?

2. A 60-kg person walks from the ground to the roof of a 74.8 m tall building.
How much gravitational potential energy does she have at the top of the
building?

3. A 70-kg man is walking at a speed of 2.0 m/s. What is his kinetic energy
(energy is measured in Joules)?

4. A 1400-kg car is moving at a speed of 25 m/s. How much kinetic energy

does the car have?

5. Jane is initially walking at a certain speed so that her kinetic energy is

150J. Then, the rain starts to fall and Jane runs at a rate of 4.2m/s. She
has a mass of 50.0kg.
A. What is her initial speed before the rain starts?
B. Find the change in Jane’s kinetic energy when she starts running.

5.3 Work and Energy

Energy is a word which tends to be used a lot in everyday life. Though it
is often used quite loosely, it does have a very specific physical meaning.
Energy is a measurement of the ability of something to do work. It is not a
material substance. Energy can be stored and measured in many forms.
Although we often hear people talking about energy consumption, energy is
never really destroyed. It is just transferred from one form to another, doing work
in the process. Some forms of energy are less useful to us than others—for

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 5

example, low level heat energy. It is better to talk about the consumption or
extraction of energy resources, for example coal, oil, or wind, than consumption
of energy itself.
 A speeding bullet has a measurable amount of energy associated with it;
this is known as kinetic energy. The bullet gained this energy because
work was done on it by a charge of gunpowder which lost some chemical
potential energy in the process.
 A hot cup of coffee has a measurable amount of thermal energy which it
acquired via work done by a microwave oven, which in turn took electrical
energy from the electrical grid.
In practice, whenever work is done to move energy from one form to another,
there is always some loss to other forms of energy such as heat and sound. For
example, a traditional light bulb is only about 3% efficient at converting electrical
energy to visible light, while a human being is about 25% efficient at converting
chemical energy from food into work.
Another unit of energy you may have come across is the Calorie. The amount
of energy in an item of food is often written in Calories on the back of the packet.
A typical 60 gram chocolate bar for example contains about 280 Calories of
energy. One Calorie is the amount of energy required to raise 1 kg of water by
1°. This is equal to 4184 joules per Calorie, so one chocolate bar has 1.17 million
joules or 1.17 MJ of stored energy.

5.4 Power
Power is the rate at which work is done. It is the work/time ratio.
Mathematically, it is computed using the following equation.
W
P=
t
where,
P = power
W = work done

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 6

t = time
The standard metric unit of power is the Watt. As is implied by the
equation for power, a unit of power is equivalent to a unit of work divided by a
unit of time. Thus, a Watt is equivalent to a Joule/second
The expression for power is work/time. And since the expression for work
is force*displacement, the expression for power can be rewritten as
(force*displacement)/time. Since the expression for velocity is displacement/time,
the expression for power can be rewritten once more as force*velocity. This is
shown below.
W
P=
t
F.d
P=
t
d
P=(F)
t
d
P=(F)
t
P=F .V

Sample Problems:

1. Determine the power of a heavy equipment that performs 5.5 ×10 4 Joules
of work in 1.1 seconds.
4
Given: W =5.5 ×10 J t=1.1 s

Solution:
W
P=
t
4
5.5 ×10 J
P=
1.1 s
4
P=5.0 × 10 Watts

2. Determine the power performed by a 60.0kg man running up the stairs

with a height of 4.5 meters in 4.0 seconds.
Given:
m=60 kg

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 7

 2
g=9.81 m/ s
∆ d=4.5 m
t=4 s

Solution:
Solving for Force,
F=mg
2
F=( 60 kg)(9.81 m/ s )
F=588 N

Solving for Work,

W =F ∆ d
W =(588 N )(4.5 m)
W =2 ,646 J

Solving for Power,

W
P=
t
2 , 646 J
P=
4.0 s
P=661.5Watts

Problem Exercises:
1. During the Powerhouse lab, Dave runs up the stairs, elevating his 102 kg
body a vertical distance of 2.29 meters in a time of 1.32 seconds at a
constant speed.
a. Determine the work done by Dave in climbing the stair case.
b. Determine the power generated by Dave.

2. A new conveyor system at the local packaging plan will utilize a motor-
powered mechanical arm to exert an average force of 890 N to push large
crates a distance of 12 meters in 22 seconds. Determine the power output
required of such a motor.

3. The Taipei 101 in Taiwan is a 1667-foot tall, 101-story skyscraper. The

skyscraper is the home of the world’s fastest elevator. The elevators
transport visitors from the ground floor to the Observation Deck on the
89th floor at speeds up to 16.8 m/s. Determine the power delivered by the
motor to lift the 10 passengers at this speed. The combined mass of the
passengers and cabin is 1250 kg.

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 8

 4. The ski slopes at Bluebird Mountain make use of tow ropes to transport
snowboarders and skiers to the summit of the hill. One of the tow ropes is
powered by a 22-kW motor which pulls skiers along an icy incline of 14° at
a constant speed. Suppose that 18 skiers with an average mass of 48 kg
hold onto the rope and suppose that the motor operates at full power.
a. Determine the cumulative weight of all these skiers.
b. Determine the force required to pull this amount of weight up a 14°
incline at a constant speed.
c. Determine the speed at which the skiers will ascend the hill.

5.5 Conservation of Energy

In physics, the term conservation refers to something which doesn't
change. This means that the variable in an equation which represents a
conserved quantity is constant over time. It has the same value both before and
after an event. The total energy of an isolated system is constant. “Energy is
neither created nor destroyed, it can only be transformed from one form to
another or transferred from one system to another.” This statement is called as
the Law of Conservation of Energy.
There are many conserved quantities in physics. They are often
remarkably useful for making predictions in what would otherwise be very
complicated situations. In mechanics, there are three fundamental quantities
which are conserved. These are energy, momentum and angular momentum.
Conservation of energy applies only to isolated systems. A ball rolling
across a rough floor will not obey the law of conservation of energy because it is
not isolated from the floor. The floor is, in fact, doing work on the ball through
friction. However, if we consider the ball and floor together, then conservation of
energy will apply. We would normally call this combination the ball-floor system.

Sample Problem:
1. A 50.0 kg boy wanted to get a coconut from the tree. He can do this in two
ways: (a) he climb the tree or (b) use the ladder of length L=12m and
inclined 30º with the horizontal. The height of the tree is 6.0m. Find the
work done by the gravitational force on the boy in each case.

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 9

Solution:
a. Climb the tree
W =Fdcosθ
W =( 490 N ) ( 6.0 m ) cos 180°
W =−2940 J

b. Use the ladder

W =Fdcosθ
W =( 490 N ) ( 12.0 m ) cos 120°
W =−2940 J

Notice that the amount of work done by the gravitational force on the boy
is just the same, no matter which way he takes.

Chapter 5 - WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 10