Work, Energy, and Power

Its difficult to give a precise definition of energy. Loosely speaking, energy is a quantity which gives an ob ect or syste! the ability to acco!plish so!ething "what we will define as work#. $here are different for!s of energy partly because there are different kinds of forces. $heres kinetic energy "a train %oo!ing at high speeds#, gravitational energy "a !eteor crashing into the earth#, elastic energy "a stretched rubber band#, ther!al energy "an oven#, radiant energy "sunlight#, electrical energy "a la!p plugged into a wall socket#, nuclear energy "nuclear power plants#, and !ass energy "the heart of Einsteins equation E = mc&#. Energy can co!e into a syste! or leave it via various interactions that produce changes. 'or the ()$ Physics (ub ect $est, you should think of force as the agent of change, energy as the !easure of change, and work as the way of transferring energy fro! one syste! to another. )nd one of the !ost i!portant laws in physics*the law of conservation of energy, equivalent to the first law of ther!odyna!ics*says that the total a!ount of energy in a given process will stay constant*that is, it will be conserved. 'or e+a!ple, electrical energy can be converted into light and heat "this is how a light bulb works#, but the a!ount of electrical energy co!ing in to the lightbulb equals the total a!ount of light and heat given off. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred "fro! one syste! to another# or transfor!ed "fro! one for! to another#.

WORK
When you lift a book fro! the f loor, you e+ert a force on it over a distance, and when you push a crate across a f loor, you also e+ert a force on it over a distance. $he application of force over a distance and the resulting change in energy of the syste! give rise to the concept of work. When you hold a book in your hand, you e+ert a force "nor!al force# on the book, but since the book is at rest, the force does not act through a distance, so you do no work on the book. )lthough you did work on the book as you lifted it fro! the f loor, once its at rest in your hand, you are no longer doing work on it. In short, if a constant force ' acts over a distance d, and ' is parallel to d, then the work done by ' is the product of force and distance. If a constant force ' acts over a distance d, and is the angle between ' and d, then the work done by ' is the product of the co!ponent of force in the direction of the !otion and the distance.

W - 'd cos

.otice that, although work depends on two vectors "' and d where d points in the direction of !otion#, work itself is not a vector. Work is a scalar quantity. 1. You slowly lift a book of mass 2 kg at constant velocity a distance of 3 m. How much work did you do on the book?

Heres How to Crack It In this case, the force you e+ert !ust balance the weight of the book "otherwise the velocity of the book wouldnt be constant#, so F = mg - "& kg#"/0 !1s&# - &0 .. (ince this force is straight upward and the displace!ent of the book is also straight upward, ' and d are parallel, so the work done by your lifting force is W = Fd - "&0 .#"2 !# - 30 .4!. $he unit for work, the newton5!eter ".4!# is rena!ed a oule, and abbreviated 6. (o the work done is 30 6.

When the formula for work works W = Fd cos only works when the Force does not change as the object mo es! 2. A 15 kg crate is moved along a hori ontal floor by a warehouse worker who!s "ulling on it with a ro"e that makes a #$% angle with the hori ontal. &he tension in the ro"e is 2$$ ' and the crate slides a distance of 1$ m. How much work is done on the crate by the worker? Heres How to Crack It $he figure below shows that '$ and d are not parallel. Its only the co!ponent of the force acting along the direction of !otion, '$ cos , that does any work.

$herefore W - "F$ cos #d - "&00 . 7 cos 308#"/0 !# - /,000 6

3. (n )uestion 2* assume that the coefficient of kinetic friction between the crate and the floor is $.+. ,a- How much work is done by the normal force? ,b- How much work is done by the friction force? Heres How to Crack It "a# 9learly, the nor!al force is not parallel to the !otion, so we use the general definition of work. (ince the angle between '. and d is :08 "by the definition ofnormal# and cos :08 - 0, the nor!al force does %ero work.

"b# $he friction force, 'f, is also not parallel to the !otion, its antiparallel. $hat is, the angle between 'f and d is /;08. (ince cos /;08 - </, and the strength of the nor!al force is FN = Ff - mg - "/= kg#"/0 !1s&# - /=0 ., the work done by the friction force is W - <'f d - <>k'.d - <"0.?#"/=0 .#"/0 !# - <300 6

$he two previous e+a!ples show that work*which, as we said, is a scalar quantity*!ay be positive, negative, or %ero. If the angle between ' and d " # is less than :08, then the work is positive "because cos is positive in this case#, if - :08, the work is %ero "because cos :08 - 0#, and if @ :08, then the work is negative "because cos is negative#. In other words, if a force helps the !otion, the work done by the force is positive, but if the force opposes the !otion, then the work done by the force is negative. 'or situations where q is so!ething other than 08, :08, or /;08, it is so!eti!es useful to break the force into co!ponents, F and FA

Where FA is the co!ponent in the direction of !otion "or opposite if it is negative# and F is the co!ponent perpendicular to the direction of !otion. We can now write this for!ula as W - FAd.

.uestions +/0 A bo1 slides down an inclined "lane ,incline angle 2 +$%-. &he mass of the block* m* is +$ kg* the coefficient of kinetic friction between the bo1 and the ram"* k* is $.3* and the length of the ram"* d* is 1$ m. ,3se4 sin +$% 5 $.# and cos +$% 5 $.6.-

+. How much work is done by gravity? 5. How much work is done by the normal force? #. How much work is done by friction? 0. 7hat is the total work done? Heres How to Crack It ?. Be!e!ber that the force thats directly responsible for pulling the bo+ down the plane" FA# is the co!ponent of the gravitational force thats parallel to the ra!pC 'wsin - mg sin "where is the incline angle#. $his co!ponent is parallel to the !otion, so the work done by gravity isC Wby gravity - "mg sin #d - "?0 kg#"/0 .1kg#"sin ?08#"/0 !# - &,?00 6 .otice that the work done by gravity is positive, as we would e+pect it to be, since gravity is helping the !otion. )lso, be careful with the angle . $he general definition of work reads W "F cos #d, where is the angle between ' and d. Dowever, the angle between 'w and d is not ?08 here, so the work done by gravity is not "mg cos ?08#d. $he angle used in the calculation above is the incline angle. $his is why W - FAd is a useful way of writing the for!ula. =. (ince the nor!al force is perpendicular to the !otion, the work done by this force is %ero.

3. $he strength of the nor!al force is 'w cos "where is the incline angle#, so the strength of the friction force is 'f - >k'. - >k'w cos - >kmg cos . (ince 'f is antiparallel to d, the cosine of the angle between these vectors "/;08# is </, so the work done by friction is

.otice that the work done by friction is negative, as we e+pect it to be, since friction is opposing the !otion. E. (ince work is a scalar, we can find the total work done si!ply by adding the values of the work done by each of the forces acting on the bo+C

WORK "O#$ %& ' ('RI'%)$ FORC$ If a force re!ains constant over the distance through which it acts, then the work done by the force is ust the product of force and distance. Dowever, if the force doesnt re!ain constant, then the work done by the force isnt ust a si!ple product. 'ocusing only on displace!ents that are along a

straight line "say the x5a+is#, let ' be a force whose co!ponent in the x direction varies with position according to the equation ' - '"x#. If we have a graph of ' versus x, then the work done by ' as it acts fro! x - x/ to x - x& is equal to the area bounded by the graph of F, the x5a+is, and the vertical lines x - x/ and x- x&.

6. &he force e1erted by a s"ring when it!s dis"laced by x from its natural length is given by the e)uation 8,x- 2 9kx* whered k is a "ositive constant. 7hat is the work done by a s"ring as it "ushes out from x 2 9x2 to x 2 9x1 ,where x2 : x1- ? Heres How to Crack It We sketch the graph of '"x# - <kx and calculate the area under the graph fro! x - <x& tox - <x/.

Dere, the region is a trape%oid with area A - "/1&#"base/ F base&# G height, so

KI#$*IC $#$R+& 9onsider an ob ect at rest "v0 - 0#, and i!agine that a steady force is e+erted on it, causing it to accelerate. Lets be !ore specific, lets say that the ob ects !ass is m, and let ' be the force acting on the ob ect, pushing it in a straight line. $he ob ects acceleration is a - '1m, so after the ob ect has traveled a distance Hs under the action of this force, its final speed, v, is given by Iig 'ive J=C

Iut the quantity 'Hs is the work done by the force, so W -/1& mv&. $he work done on the ob ect has transferred energy to it, in the a!ount /1&mv&.

$he energy an ob ect possesses by virtue of its !otion is therefore defined as /1&mv& and is called kinetic energy K=(1/ !mv

*H$ WORK,$#$R+& *H$OR$Kinetic energy is e+pressed in oules ust like work, since in the case at which we ust looked, W - K. In fact, the total work done on an ob ect*or the work done by the net force*is equal to the ob ects change in kinetic energy, this is known as the work<energy theore!. Wtotal - HK Kinetic energy, like work, is a scalar quantity.

;. 7hat is the kinetic energy of a baseball ,mass 2 $.15 kg- moving with a s"eed of 2$ m<s ? Heres How to Crack It 'ro! the definition,

1$. How much work would it take to sto" an ob=ect that has 3$ > of kinetic energy? Heres How to Crack It $o stop an ob ect !eans to change its kinetic energy to %ero. (o, if the initial kinetic energy is 20 6, then the change in kinetic energy has to be 0 < 20 - <20 6. Iy the work<energy theore!, Wtotal LK, the total a!ount of work that would be required is <20 6.

K.nemat.cs s! Work,K.net.c $nergy For objects mo .ng .n a stra.ght l.ne w.th a constant force/ you can use the work,k.net.c energy theorem or %.g F. e 01 and Fnet = ma for 2roblems where t.me .s not .n ol ed! 11. An ob=ect initially has 1$ > of kinetic energy. &wo forces act on it* one "erforming +$ > of work and the other ,friction- "erforming 92$ >. 7hat is the final kinetic energy of this ob=ect? Heres How to Crack It $he total work done is "?0 6# F "<&0 6# - &0 6. (o, by the work<energy theore!, Wtotal - LK, we have &0 6 - LK. (ince LK - Kf < Ki, we find that Kf - Ki F LK - /0 6 F &0 6 - 20 6.

12. A "ool cue striking a stationary billiard ball ,mass 2 $.25 kg- gives the ball a s"eed of 2 m<s. (f the force of the cue on the ball was 25 '* over what distance did this force act? Heres How to Crack It $he kinetic energy of the ball as it leaves the cue is K-"/1&#mv"&-"/1&#"0.&= kg#"& !1s#M&- 0.= 6 $he work W done by the cue gave the ball this kinetic energy, so

.ote that this could have been solved by using Fnet - ma to find the acceleration, and then using Iig 'ive J= to find the displace!ent.

3O*$#*I') $#$R+& Kinetic energy is the energy an ob ect has by virtue of its !otion, but potential energy is independent of !otion and arises fro! the ob ects position. 'or e+a!ple, a ball at the edge of a tabletop has energy that could be transfor!ed into kinetic energy if it falls off. )n arrow in an archers pulled5back bow has energy that could be transfor!ed into kinetic energy if the archer releases the arrow. Ioth of these e+a!ples illustrate the concept ofpotential energy "sy!boli%ed as # or $E#, the energy an ob ect or a syste! has by virtue of its position. In each case, work was done on the ob ect to put it in the given position "the ball was lifted to the tabletop, the arrow was

pulled back#, and since work is the !eans of transferring energy, these things have stored energ% t&at can 'e retrieved, as kinetic energy. When an ob ect falls, gravity does positive work, thereby giving the ob ect kinetic energy. We can think of this situation differently by i!agining that the kinetic energy ca!e fro! a NstorehouseO of energy. $his energy is called potential energy. Iecause there are different types of forces, there are different types of potential energy. $he ball at the edge of the tabletop provides an e+a!ple of gravitational potential energy, #grav, which is the energy stored by virtue of an ob ects position in a gravitational field. $his energy would be converted to kinetic energy as gravity pulled the ball down to the f loor. 'or now, lets concentrate on gravitational potential energy. )ssu!e the ball has a !ass m of & kg, and that the tabletop is & - /.= ! above the f loor. Dow !uch work did gravity do as the ball was lifted fro! the f loor to the tableP $he strength of the gravitational force on the ball is 'w - mg - "& kg#"/0 .1kg# - &0 .. $he force 'w points downward, and the balls !otion was upward, so the work done by gravity during the balls ascent was Wby gravity - <'w& - <mg& - <"&0 .#"/.= !# - <20 6 (o!eone perfor!ed F20 6 of work to raise the ball fro! the f loor to the tabletop. $hat energy is now stored, and if so!eone gave the ball a push to send it over the edge, by the ti!e the ball reached the f loor it would acquire a kinetic energy of 20 6. (o wed say that the change in the balls gravitational potential energy in !oving fro! the f loor to the table was F20 6. $hat is H #grav - <Wby gravity .otice that potential energy, like work "and kinetic energy#, is e+pressed in oules. In general, if an ob ect of !ass m is raised a height & "which is s!all enough that g stays essentially constant over this altitude change#, then the increase in the ob ects gravitational potential energy is H #grav - mg&

)n i!portant fact that !akes the above equation possible is that the work done by gravity as the ob ect is raised does not depend on the path taken by the ob ect. $he ball could be lifted straight upward or on so!e curvy path*it would !ake no difference. Qravity is said to be a conservative force because of this property. If we decide on a reference level to call & - 0, then we can say that the gravitational potential energy of an ob ect of !ass m at a height & is #grav - mg&. $o use this last equation, its essential that we choose a reference level for height. 'or e+a!ple, consider a passenger in an airplane reading a book. If the book is / ! above the f loor of the plane then, to the passenger, the gravitational potential energy of the book is mg&, where & - / !. Dowever, to so!eone on the ground looking up, the f loor of the plane !ay be, say, :,000 ! above the ground. (o, to this person, the gravitational potential energy of the book is mg(, where ( - :,00/ !. What both would agree on, though, is that the difference in potential energy between the f loor of the plane and the

position of the book is mg G "/ !#, since the airplane passenger would calculate the difference as mg G "/ ! < 0 !#, while the person on the ground would calculate it as mg G ":,00/ ! < :,000 !#.

13. A stuntwoman ,mass 2 #$ kg- scales a 2$/meter/tall rock face. 7hat is her gravitational "otential energy ,relative to the ground-? Heres How to Crack It 9alling the ground & - 0, we find #grav - mg& - "30 kg#"/0 .1kg#"&0 !# - /&,000 6

+R'(I*'*IO#') 3O*$#*I') $#$R+& In the previous discussion, we took the surface of the earth to be our # - 0 reference level and assu!ed that the height, &, was s!all co!pared with the earths radius. In that case, the variation in g was negligible, so g was thought of as a constant. Work and +ra .ty %y def.n.t.on/ Ugra = ,Wby gra

Iut now well take variations in g into account and develop a general equation for gravitational potentia energy, one that isnt restricted to s!all altitude changes. 9onsider an ob ect of !ass m at a distance r/ fro! the center of the earth "or any spherical body# !oving by so!e !eans to a position r&.

Dow !uch work did the gravitational force perfor! during this displace!entP $he answer is given by the equation.

Wby grav- )mm $herefore, since H#grav - <Wby grav, we get

#&5#/- <)mm

Lets choose our # - 0 reference at infinity. $hat is, we decide to allow #& 0 as r& R. $hen this equation beco!es U= _ .otice that according to this equation "and our choice of # - 0 when r - R#, the gravitational potential energy is always negative. $his ust !eans that energy has to be added to bring an ob ect "!ass m# bound to the gravitational field of * to a point very far fro! *, at which # - 0.

1+. A satellite of mass m is in a circular orbit of radius R around the earth ,radius r?* mass M-. 7hat is its total mechanical energy ,where Ugravis considered ero as R a""roaches infinity-? Heres How to Crack It $he !echanical energy, E, is the su! of the kinetic energy, K, and potential energy, #. Sou can calculate the kinetic energy, since you know that the centripetal force on the satellite is provided by the gravitational attraction of the earth.

$herefore

CO#4$R('*IO# OF -$CH'#IC') $#$R+& We have seen energy in its two basic for!sC kinetic energy " K# and potential energy "##. $he su! of an ob ects kinetic and potential energies is called its !echanical energy, E.

E-KF#

".otice that because # is relative, so is E.# )ssu!ing that no nonconservative forces "friction, for e+a!ple# act on an ob ect or a syste! as it undergoes so!e change, !echanical energy is conserved. $hat is, the initial !echanical energy, Ei, is equal to the final !echanical energy, Ef, or

Ki F # i - Kf F # f

$his is the si!plest for! of the law of conservation of total energy, which we !entioned at the beginning of this section.

15. A ball of mass 2 kg is gently "ushed off the edge of a tableto" that is 1.6 m above the floor. 8ind the s"eed of the ball as it strikes the floor. Heres How to Crack It Ignoring the friction due to the air, we can apply conservation of !echanical energy. 9alling the f loor our & - 0 reference level, we write

.otice that the balls potential energy decreased, while its kinetic energy increased. $his is the basic idea behind conservation of !echanical energyC Tne for! of energy decreases while the other increases. ")lso, notice that although the question gives you the !ass of the ball, it wasnt necessary since the !ass m cancelled out of the equation.# 4.m2l.fy *he formula v=56gh7859:67 .s useful and worth remember.ng for the test! 1#. A bo1 is "ro=ected u" a long ram" ,incline angle with the hori ontal 2 3$%- with an initial s"eed of 6 m<s. (f the surface of the ram" is very smooth ,essentially frictionless-* how high u" the ram" will the bo1 go? 7hat distance along the ram" will it slide? Heres How to Crack It Iecause friction is negligible, we can apply conservation of !echanical energy. 9alling the botto! of the ra!p our & - 0 reference level, we write

(ince the incline angle is - 208, the distance, d+ it slides up the ra!p is found in the following way.

10. 7ile ?. @oyote ,mass 2 +$ kg- falls off a 5$/meter/high cliff. An the way down* the force of air resistance has an average strength of +$ '. 8ind the s"eed with which he crashes into the ground. 4.m2l.fy When a nonconser at. e force does work/ an alternate e;uat.on .s W*O*') = <K/ where the work done by gra .ty re2laces the change .n 2otent.al energy! Heres How to Crack It $he force of air resistance opposes the downward !otion, so it does negative work on the coyote as he fallsC Wr - <Fr&. 9alling the ground & - 0, we find that

16. 8ind an e1"ression for the minimum s"eed at which an ob=ect of mass m must be launched in order to esca"e ?arth!s gravitational field. ,&his is called esca"e s"eed.-

Heres How to Crack It When launched, the ob ect is at the surface of the earth " r, - rE# and has an upward, initial velocity of !agnitude v,. $o get it far away fro! the earth, we want to bring its gravitational potential energy to %ero, but to find the !ini!u! launch speed, we want the ob ects final speed to be %ero by the ti!e it gets to this distant location. (o, by conservation of energy

which gives

3OW$R
(i!ply put, power is the rate at which work is done "or energy is transferred, which is the sa!e thing#. (uppose you and I each do /,000 6 of work, but I do the work in & !inutes while you do it in / !inute. We both did the sa!e a!ount of work, but you were quicker, you were !ore powerful. Deres the definition of power.

$he unit of power is the oule per second "61s#, which is rena!ed the watt and sy!boli%ed W "not to be confused with the sy!bol for work, W#. Tne watt is / oule per secondC / W - / 61s. 1;. A mover "ushes a large crate ,mass m 2 05 kg- from the inside of the truck to the back end ,a distance of # m-* e1erting a steady "ush of 3$$ '. (f he moves the crate this distance in 2$ s* what is his "ower out"ut during this time? Heres How to Crack It $he work done on the crate by the !over is W - 'd - "200 .#"3 !# - /,;00 6. If this !uch work is done in &0 s, then the power delivered is $ - W1t - "/,;00 6#1"&0 s# - :0 W. .ote that $ - W/t 'd1t - Fv, the for!ula $ - 'v is often useful.

9hapter ? Beview Uuestions (ee 9hapter /E for solutions. 1. A force 8 of strength 2$ ' acts on an ob=ect of mass 3 kg as it moves a distance of + m. (f 8 is "er"endicular to the + m dis"lacement* the work it does is e)ual to ,A$> ,B- #$ >

,@- 6$ > ,C- #$$ > ,?- 2*+$$ > 2. 3nder the influence of a force* an ob=ect of mass + kg accelerates from 3 m<s to # m<s in 6 s. How much work was done on the ob=ect during this time? ,A- 20 > ,B- 5+ > ,@- 02 > ,C- ;# > ,?- @annot be determined from the information given 3. A bo1 of mass m slides down a frictionless inclined "lane of length Land vertical height h. 7hat is the change in its gravitational "otential energy? ,A- 9mgL ,B- 9mgh ,@- 9mgL<h ,C- 9mgh<L ,?- 9mghL +. An ob=ect of mass m is traveling at constant s"eed v in a circular "ath of radius r. How much work is done by the centri"etal force during one half of a revolution? ,A- Dmv2 ,B- 2Dmv2 ,@- $ ,C- Dmv2r ,?- 2Dmv2r 5. 7hile a "erson lifts a book of mass 2 kg from the floor to a tableto"* 1.5 m above the floor* how much work does the gravitational force do on the book? ,A- 93$ > ,B- 915 > ,@-$ > ,C- 15 > ,?- 3$ > #. A block of mass 3 kg slides down a frictionless inclined "lane of length # m and height + m. (f the block is released from rest at the to" of the incline* what is its s"eed at the bottom? ,A- 5 m<s ,B- # m<s ,@- 6 m<s ,C- ; m<s ,?- 1$ m<s 0. A block of mass 3 kg slides down an inclined "lane of length # m and height + m. (f the force of friction on the block is a constant 1# ' as it slides from rest at the to" of the incline* what is its s"eed at the bottom?

,A- 2 m<s ,B- 3 m<s ,@- + m<s ,C- 5 m<s ,?- # m<s 6. As a rock of mass + kg dro"s from the edge of a +$/meter/high cliff* it e1"eriences air resistance* whose average strength during the descent is 2$ '. At what s"eed will the rock hit the ground? ,A- 6 m<s ,B- 1$ m<s ,@- 12 m<s ,C- 1# m<s ,?- 2$ m<s ;. An astronaut dro"s a rock from the to" of a crater on the moon. 7hen the rock is halfway down to the bottom of the crater* its s"eed is what fraction of its final im"act s"eed? ,A- 1<+,2-E,1<2,B- 1<+ ,@- 1<2,2-E,1<2,C- 1<2 ,?- 1<,2-E,1<21$. A force of 2$$ ' is re)uired to kee" an ob=ect sliding at a constant s"eed of 2 m<s across a rough floor. How much "ower is being e1"ended to maintain this motion? ,A- 5$ 7 ,B- 1$$ 7 ,@- 2$$ 7 ,C- +$$ 7 ,?- @annot be determined from the information given 11. &he moon has mass M and radius R. A small ob=ect is dro""ed from a distance of 3R from the moon!s center. &he ob=ect!s im"act s"eed when it strikes the surface of the moon is e)ual to for k 2 A-1<3 B- 2<3 @- 3<+ C-+<3 ?- 3<2