Work and energy

Work
Work is said to be done only when the force acting on a body produces motion in it, in the
direction of the force applied.

Ø The factors on which the amount of work done depends:

1. Magnitude of force applied
Work done ∝ Force applied. i.e. W ∝ F
i.e. the more the force applied, the more is the work done.

2. Displacement of the body

Work done ∝ displacement of the body.

Ø There are two conditions needed to be satisfied for work to be done.

a) A force should be act on the object.
b) The object on which the force acts must be displaced.

Expression for work done by a body:

If a force ‘F’ is applied on a body produces a displacement‘s’ on it, the work done by the force,
W=Force x Displacement
i.e. W=F x s

W=Fxs
Unit of work done
We know W=Fxs
Unit of F is Newton (N) and unit of displacement is metre (m).
Then, the unit of work is Newton- metre. (N.m).

SI unit of work done is ‘JOULE’, denoted by ‘J’.

Define 1 Joule of work

If F= 1N and s=1m, then the work done is 1Joule.
Ø When a force of 1N is applied on a body produces a displacement of 1 metre in the direction of
force, then the work done is said to be 1Joule.
i.e. 1J=1Nm
Ø Kilo Joule and mega Joule are the higher units of work.
Ø 1kilo Joule (kJ)= 1000J
Ø 1 Mega Joule = 100,0000J
Ø Work is a scalar quantity. i.e. the work has only magnitude and no direction

NATURE OF WORK

The nature of work may be positive, negative or zero.

Ø POSITIVE WORK
When a force ‘F’ is acting on the body produces a displacement in the direction of force applied, then
the work done by the force is said to be positive. i.e. when the direction of force and the direction of
displacement are same, then the work done by the force is positive.

Eg. When a body falls under the action of gravity, work done by the gravity on the freely falling body is
positive.

Ø NEGATIVE WORK
When a force is applied on a body produces a displacement in a direction which is opposite to the
direction of force, then the work done is said to be negative.

Eg. (1)When brakes are applied on a moving car, work done by the breaking force is negative.
(2)When a body is thrown up its motion is opposed by the gravity. So the work done by the
gravity on the body moving upwards is negative.

Ø ZERO WORK
When a force is acting on a body produces a displacement in a direction perpendicular to the direction
of force, then the work done is said to be zero.

Eg. 1. When a porter carrying some load on his head moves on a horizontal platform, the force exerted
on the load by him is in upward direction and his displacement which is horizontally on the platform is
perpendicular to the force then, the work done is zero.

Eg. 2. When a body moves in a circular path, the work done by the centripetal force is zero. Because
along a circular path when a body moves, its displacement is always tangential to the point and the force
exerted on it is towards the centre. As the direction of the body and the direction of force are mutually
perpendicular then the work done by the centripetal force is zero.

v The work done is zero if, either

Ø The displacement is zero, or
Ø The force and the displacement are perpendicular to each other.

Qn. What is the work done by the force of gravity on a satellite moving around the earth?
Ans. The satellite moves around the earth in a circular path in a uniform speed. The gravitational force
of earth is the centripetal force. i.e. at every point of the circular orbit, the centripetal force acts on the
satellite is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the satellite. Therefore, the work done by the
gravity is zero.

ENERGY
Energy of a body is defined as the capacity of the body to do work
Ø Energy is a scalar quantity, i.e. it has only magnitude and no direction.

Unit of energy
Ø SI unit of energy is Joule (J).
Ø 1 Joule of energy is the capacity of the body to do 1 Joule of work.
Eg:- 100 J of energy means, it is the capacity of the body to do 100 J of work.
Ø Other units of energy – KJ. 1 KJ = 1,000 J
Different forms of energy

1. Chemical Energy: - Energy stored in the food we eat, when petrol burns in car, the energy is stored
in the form of chemical energy. i.e. The energy stored in matter is called chemical energy.

2. Electrical Energy: - The energy used to rotate the fans, light bulbs, run washers etc. is in the form
of electricity.

3. Heat Energy: - When water is boiled, it changes to steam. The steam possesses heat energy and attain
the capacity to do the work such as running railway engines, rotating turbines etc...

4. Light Energy: - Light energy from the sun gives the capacity to carry out the process like
photosynthesis, photo chemical change etc.

5. Magnetic Energy: - A magnet possesses energy to attract substances in the form of magnetic energy.

6. Nuclear Energy: - The nucleus of an atom has energy stored in it. This energy can be used to generate
electricity in nuclear power plants. The energy stored in the nucleus is called nuclear energy.

7. Mechanical Energy: - Mechanical energy is of two types.

a) KINETIC ENERGY
b) POTENTIAL ENERGY
Kinetic energy
The energy possessed by a body due to its motion is called kinetic energy.
Ø A body in motion has the ability to do the work.
eg. 1. A bullet fired from a gun possesses kinetic energy and can pierce a target.

2. Moving air possesses kinetic energy and can run a wind mill.

3. Running water possess KE, This kinetic energy of running water is used in
generating electricity in hydel power stations.

Derivation of formula for Kinetic Energy

Consider a body of mass ‘m’ initially at rest (u=0). When a force ‘F’ is applied on a body
it attains a velocity ‘v’ starting from rest. Let the acceleration produced by the body be ‘a’ and the
displacement be ‘s’.

From the equations of motion, v2=u2+2as.

Since u=0, v2=2as

i.e s= v2/2a ---------(1)

According to Newton’s second law of motion, Force applied on a body,

F=ma ----------(2)

The work done by the force on the body is

W=Fxs

Substituting from eqn. 1&2, we get , W=ma x v2/2a

i.e. W = ½ mv2

Work done, W=KE gained by the body. Therefore, KE of the body,

W= Ek= ½ mv2

Ek= ½ mv2
Conclusions from the equation, Ek= ½ mv2

1. The KE of a moving body is directly proportional to its mass.

Ø As mass of the body gets doubled, the KE also gets doubled and as the mass of the body gets
halved, the KE also gets halved.

2. The KE of a moving body is directly proportional to the square of its velocity.

Ø As velocity of the body gets doubled, KE attained by the body increases by four times and if
the velocity of the body is halved the KE becomes 1/4th of the original value.
Potential energy
Energy possessed by an object because of its position or configuration is called potential energy.
Ø Potential energy can be of different kinds:
1. The energy possessed by a body due to its position is called gravitational potential energy.
2. The energy possessed by a body due to its configuration is called elastic potential energy.

For example;
1. When a stone is kept at a height, it possesses some energy (gravitational potential energy)
because of its height. When it falls from its height it attains the ability to do work.

2. A stretched rubber band possesses some energy because of its change in configuration(shape).
Because of that energy, when the stretched rubber band is released it acquires energy to do work and
when it hits on our hand we will get pain. A stretched rubber band possesses eleastic potential energy
because of its stretched string and is able to do some work.(Elastic P.E)

3. A stretched bow possesses energy because of its change in the configuration called elastic potential
energy. When an arrow is released from the bow it attains energy to pierce through the target.

Expression for Gravitational Potential Energy:

Potential energy possessed by an object due to its height
Consider an object of mass ‘m’ is placed over a height, h from the ground.
The minimum force required to work done on the body,
F = mg. Where, ‘F’ is force, ‘m’ is mass and ‘g’ is the acceleration due to gravity.
We know , Work done = Force x displacement

Work done, W = F x h, Where, ‘h’ is the displacement of the object.

Since, the object is displaced at a height, therefore, ‘h’ is taken at the place of ‘s’.
i.e. W = mg h (since, F = mg)
The potential energy (Ep) is equal to the work done over the object
Therefore, Gravitational Potential Energy, Ep = mgh
Where, ‘h’ is height, ‘m’ is mass and ‘g’ is acceleration due to gravity.
Ø The potential energy of an object is directly proportional to:
(i) mass of the object(m).
(ii) acceleration due to gravity(g) and
(iii) height (position) of the object from the ground. (but not depends upon the path)
Ø On increasing all these factors potential energy also increases.

Law of Conservation of Energy

According to Law of conservation of energy, “energy can neither be created nor be destroyed but one
form of energy can be converted to another form. i.e. the total energy of a system remains unchanged
before and after transformation”.

Example: – When an object having potential energy is dropped from a height, the potential energy is
changed into kinetic energy. During free fall of the object, the potential energy starts decreasing and
converting into kinetic energy with decrease of height from the ground. i.e. Total mechanical energy
(the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy remains constant) at every point of the falling of object.

i.e mgh + ½ mv2 = constant at every point

Ø The sum of potential energy and kinetic energy is the total mechanical energy of the object
falling from a height.

Power

Ø Power is defined as the rate of doing work or work done per unit time
Ø Power = Work done/Time taken

ØP =
Power in terms of energy

Ø The energy consumed by a body is called its power. i.e.

Ø Power = Energy consumed/Time taken

Ø P=
Average Power

Ø Average Power is the average work done by a body per unit time.

Average Power= Average amount of Work done

Time taken
OR,
Average Power = Average amount of energy supplied
Time taken

SI unit of power

Ø We know, P =W/t or P= E/t,

Ø If the unit of Work and Energy is Joule and time is second, then the unit of power is J/S.
Ø But SI unit of Power is Watt, represented by “W”.
Ø
i.e. Watt = Joule/Second, i.e. 1 W = 1 J S -1
Other units of Power
Ø kilowatt = 1000 watts
Ø kW = 1000 = 1000 J /s