LESSON 2:

I. WORK, ENERGY, AND POWER

A. WORK
A construction worker holding one end of a heavy board, a soldier guarding the Rizal Monument, an inspector
watching canned goods go by a moving belt, or a secretary typing letters and communications are said to be doing their
work. Whatever its meaning in daily life is, work has a very precise meaning in physics.
Gaspar Coriolis in 1829 called the product of force and displacement of the object that moves under the
influence of that force as work. Work is done only when a force succeeds in moving the object upon which it acts. A
weight lifter has not done any work unless he succeeded lifting the weight to a certain height. Furthermore, the
displacement moved by the body must be in the direction on which the force acts. In symbols: W=Fd
Where F is the magnitude of the force and d is the distance/displacement moved in the direction of the force.
Work is a scalar quantity. There is no direction associated with work.
The unit of work are those of force and distance. The SI unit of work is the newton-meter. This unit combination is called
the joule (abbreviated as J) in honor of JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE. One joule is the amount of work done by a force of one
newton in moving a body through a distance of one meter. A smaller unit of work is the ergon, the Greek word for work.
One erg is the amount of work dyne of force of force through a distance of one centimeter.
1 J = 1 N.m 1joule= 1 Newton-meter
1 erg= 1 dyne. Cm
1 J = 107 erg
SAMPLE PROBLEM

1. How much work is done by a shopper in pushing her grocery cart that was acted upon by a force of 32 N
through a distance of 4.5 m?
Solution: we are given the force F=32N and d=4.5m
Work done by applied force = Fd
W= Fd
W=(32 N) (4.5 m)
W= 144 J

``When the force F and displacement d are not parallel to each other, only the component of the force parallel
to the displacement does work. It is very easy to get the component of the force in the required direction. If Ө is the
angle between the directions of Force and distance, the magnitude of the component of F parallel to d is FcosӨ. The
work done is; W=Fd(cosӨ)

If the applied force on the object and its displacement are perpendicular to each other, the force has no component
parallel to displacement. No work is done on the object.

SAMPLE PROBLEM
1. To bring his coconuts to the market, a distance of 12.0 m from where he is, a vendor pushes his cart by a force of 14.0 N, 30 o
with horizontal. How much work did the vendor do?
Given: F= 14.0 N Solution: using the formula for work and substituting values,
d= 15.0 m W= Fd cosӨ
Ө= 30o W= (14.0 N)(15.0 m)(cos 30o)
W= 182 N.m or J

B. ENERGY
With the idea of work clear to us, we can now move on a step further and study energy. Since we use energy to
do work, ENERGY is defined as the ability to do WORK. A system that possesses energy has the capability to do work on
another. Energy is expressed in joules or ergs. Energy, like work, is also a scalar quantity. There are many forms of
energy: mechanical, heat, sound, light and chemical energy. The sum of potential energy and kinetic energy is called
MECHANICAL ENERGY.

GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY

Gravitational potential energy is the energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position. A raised weight
possesses gravitational potential energy. In letting the weight fall back to its original level, it can do work. Gravitational
potential energy (P.E) is given by the formula; P.E. = mgh or P.E.=(mass)(gravity)(height)

Where h is the height and m is the mass of the object, g is the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s 2 ).
NOTE that the reference point for zero gravitational energy is the ground.
 SAMPLE PROBLEM
1. A 75.0 kg child climbs a 6.0 m long slide that is inclined 30 o with the horizontal. What is the potential energy of the child to the
ground?
Given: m= 75.0 kg Solution: use the equation P.E. = mgh
L= 6.0 m P.E. = (75.0 kg)(9.8 m/s2)(3.0 m)
o
Ө= 30 P.E. = 2, 205 J
h= (6.0 m) (sin 30o) = 3.0 m

ELASTIC POTENTIAL ENERGY

Elastic potential energy possessed by a spring or rubber band when it is stretched or compressed. It takes a
force to stretch a spring or a rubber band because the molecules of the spring or rubber band try to oppose being
pulled. Upon stretching, the molecules move apart and gain elastic potential energy. Elastic potential energy is given by;

1
P.E.= kx
2

Where x is the elongation of the spring and k is its force constant. FORCE CONSTANT of a spring is the force needed to
produce a unit elongation of the spring. It has the unit of N/m. Force constant is a measure of the stiffness of the spring.
Bigger force constant means that the spring is not easily elongated or compressed.

SAMPLE PROBLEM
1. A coiled spring in a waist trimming exercise requires a force of 54 N to compress it by 0.20 m. Find the force constant of the
spring. How much force is needed to compress the spring by 0.50 m? What is its potential energy when compressed by 0.50 m?
F 54 N
Given: F= 54 N Solution: a. k= = = 270 N.m
x 0.2 m
X= 0.20 m b. the force needed to compress the spring by 0.50 m
F= (270 N/m)(0.50 m)
F= 135 N
c. Elastic potential energy
1
P.E.= kx2
2
1
P.E.= (270 N)(0.50 m)2
2

KINETIC ENERGY
In addition to momentum, a moving object possesses kinetic energy. Kinetic Energy is the energy possessed by a
body because of its motion. Kinetic energy (K.E) is given by;
1
K.E.= mv2
2
Where m is the mass and v is the velocity. It should be noted that the kinetic energy of an object is dependent on its
mass and velocity. K.E.= P2/ 2m
SAMPLE PROBLEM
1. Which has greater kinetic energy when running at their top speed: a cheetah capable of attaining a top speed of 31.4 m/s or
an elephant having a top speed of 6.94 m/s? The average masses of a cheetah and elephant are 50.0 kg and 5500 kg,
respectively;
1 2
Given: cheetah velocity=31.4 m/s2 Solution: a. cheetah K.E.= mv
2
1
Cheetah mass = 50 kg K.E.= (50 kg)(31.4 m/s)2
2
Elephant velocity = 6.94 m/s2 K.E = 2.46 x 104 J
1 2
Elephant mass = 5500 kg b. Elephant K.E.= mv
2

WORK-ENERGY THEOREM
When a constant horizontal force F displaces an object of mass m through a horizontal distance d, the work this
force does on the body results to a change in kinetic energy of the object.
W= K.E.f – K.E.i

Where = K.E.f – K.E.i, are the final and initial kinetic energies, respectively. This relation is known as the work-energy
theorem. A closer look at this theorem will show that work done on the object is positive, there will be an increase in its
kinetic energy. A negative work, on the other hand, will result to a decrease in kinetic energy.
SAMPLE PROBLEM
1. A woman pushes horizontally on a 2 kg cart with a force of 300 N. The cart moves to a horizontal distance of 3 m. What is the
final speed of the cart assuming it start from rest?
Given: F= 300 N Solving for vf
D= 3 m W= K.E.f – K.E.i
1 1
Solution: W= Fdx 900 J= (2 kg)(vf)2 - (2 kg)(0)2
2 2
W= (300 N)(3 m) vf = 30 m/s
W= 900 J
The work done on the cart is equal to the change in its kinetic energy.
W= K.E.f – K.E.i
CONVSERVATION OF MECHANICAL ENERGY
Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. It can only change from one form to another. An equivalent
statement is the “local amount of energy in the universe or in any isolated system remains constant.” This statement is
called the CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. A system is considered isolated if it does not absorb or release energy at the time
it is being considered. In equation form, total energy (E) is; E= constant

In the absence of friction, total mechanical energy E M is conserved. In symbols, EM = P.E. + K.E. = constant

Most rides in an amusement park are perfect examples of energy conservation. Every ride involves an exchange
between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy. Take for instance a roller coaster. At the top of the hill and
starting from rest, the car has only gravitational potential energy. As it moves down the hill, the car loses gravitational
potential energy but gains kinetic energy. This is evidenced by the speed of the car changing from slow to extremely fast.
As it goes up and down the hill, the total energy may be a combination of kinetic energy and potential energy. The sum
of these two energies remains constant through-out the ride, if the tracks are frictionless.

SAMPLE PROBLEM 20.0

5.0
16.0
10.0
m
m
1. A roller coaster car with its passengers passes point A with a speed of 3.0 m/s, what is its speed at point B? Combined
mass of the car and passengers is 1,500 kg.

Given: mass = 1,500 kg

Speed at point A = 3.0 m/s
Height of point A = 20.0 m
Height of point B = 5.0 m

Solution: using the equation EM = P.E. + K.E., and substituting the given values;
1 2
E at point A = mgh + mv
2
1
= (1,500kg)(9.8 m/s2)(20.0 m) + (1,500 kg)(3.0 m/s)2
2
= 300750 J ≈ 3.01 x 105 J

C. POWER
Essential Question: How much Power can we generate?
We have not considered time in our discussion on work and energy. But we are all aware, in a practical sense,
about the importance of time in the performance of work. To express how fast work is done we use the concept of
power.
POWER (P) is the rate of doing work. In equation form; Power = work /time = Fd /t
But since d /t is average speed ṽ , power may also be expressed as; P = Fṽ
The SI unit of power is the watt (W) named after James Watt who improved the steam engine.
1 watt = 1 joule /second
Another unit of power is the horsepower, abbreviated as (hp). Motors and engines are rated to horsepower.
1 hp = 746 watt
We are familiar with the watt or kilowatt (1 000 watts) in reference to electric power. Kilowatt-hour, abbreviated as
KWh, is not a unit of power but a unit of energy being a product of power (kilowatt) and time (hour). Whenever we pay
our electric bills, we pay for the number of kilowatt-hours we consumed. Thus we pay for our electric energy
consumption.

SAMPLE PROBLEM
1. A boy whose mass is 45.0 kg runs up to 25 steps, each step is 30.0 cm high in 50.0 seconds. Find the power in watts
expanded by the key.
Given: mass = 45 kg Solution: height (h) = (25 steps) ( 30.0 m/step) = 0.300 m
 Number of steps = 25 P=
t
= ( m
)
mgh ( 45.0 kg ) 9.8 ( 7.5 m)
s = 66 W
50.0 s
Height of step = 30 cm = 0.300 m
T = 50 seconds

2. Calculate the power required of a 60-kg person climbs a tree 5 meters high in 10 seconds. Acceleration due to gravity
is 9.8 m/s2.
Known : Mass (m) = 60 kg Height (h) = 5 meters
Acceleration due to gravity (g) = 10 m/s2 Time interval (t) = 10 seconds
Wanted : Power
Solution : Work : Power :
2
W = m g h = (60Kg)(9.8m/s )(5m) = 3000 Joule P = W / t = 3000J / 10 s = 300 Joule/second