CH APTER

WORK, ENERGY & POWER

WORK DONE Calculation of work done from force–
r r displacement graph :
W = ò dW = ò F.dr = ò Fdr cos q
r r F
[where q is the angle between F & dr ] Total work done,
rr P2
w For constant force W = F.d = Fd cos q x2
W = å Fdx P1
w For Unidirectional force x1

W = ò dW = ò Fdx = Area between = Area of P1P2NM M N x

O x1 x2
dx
F–x curve and x-axis.

Kinetic energy WORK DONE BY VARIABLE FORCE

• The energy possessed by a body by virtue A force varying with position or time is known
of its motion is called kinetic energy. as the variable force B
r ®
dS
1 1 rr ˆ ˆ ˆ
F = Fx i + Fy j + Fz k q ®
K= mv 2 = m(v.v) F
2 2 r
ˆ ˆ
dS = dxi + dyj + dzk ˆ A
• Kinetic energy is a frame dependent
quantity. B r r xB yB zB

• Kinetic energy is never negative. WAB = ò F × dS = ò Fx dx + ò Fy dy + ò F dz

z
A xA yA zA

NATURE OF WORK DONE

Although work done is a scalar quantity, yet its value may be positive, negative or even zero

Negative work Zero work Positive work

F
F F
q
q S q
S S
(q >90°)
(q = 90°) (q < 90°)
S
mg
S
F
S
f

Work done by friction force Motion of particle on circular path mg

(q =180°) (uniform) (q =90°)
Motion under gravity (q =0°)
S N

f
F=2.5 N B F
fmax=10N
mg f=friction force
A

Work done by gravity mg = 100 N Work done by friction

(q =180°) As f = F, hence S = 0 force on block A ( q =0°)
Conservative Forces Non–conservative Forces
• Work done does not depend upon path. • Work done depends upon path.
• Work done in a round trip is zero. • Work done in a round trip is not zero.
• Central forces, spring forces etc. are conservative • Forces are velocity–dependent & retarding in nature
forces e.g. friction, viscous force etc.
• When only a conservative force acts within a system, • Work done against a non–conservative force may be
the kinetic energy and potential energy can change dissipated as heat energy.
into each other. However, their sum, the mechani-
cal energy of the system, doesn't change. • Work done is not recoverable.
• Work done is completely recoverable.
r r r r
• If F is a conservative force then Ñ ´ F = 0 (i.e.
r
curl of F is zero)

POTENTIAL ENERGY l Potential energy may be positive or negative or

l The energy possessed by a body by virtue of its even zero
position or configuration in a conservative force
field.
l Potential energy is a relative quantity.
Repulsion forces
l Potential energy is defined only for conservative U+ve
force field. U-ve
r
l Potential energy of a body at any position in a Attraction forces
conservative force field is defined as the external
work done against the action of conservative force
in order to shift it from a certain reference point
i) Potential energy is positive, if force field is repulsive
(PE = 0) to the present position.
in nature
l Potential energy of a body in a conservative force
ii) Potential energy is negative, if force field is
field is equal to the work done by the conservative
attractive in nature
force in moving the body from its present position
to reference position. l If r ­ (separation between body and force centre),
U ­, force field is attractive or vice–versa.
l At a certain reference position, the potential
energy of the body is assumed to be zero or the l If r ­, U ¯, force field is repulsive in nature.
body is assumed to have lost the capacity of doing
Potential energy curve and equilibrium
work.
It is a curve which shows the change in potential
l Relationship between conservative force field and
energy with the position of a particle.
potential energy :

r ¶U ˆ ¶U ˆ ¶U ˆ E
F = -ÑU = - grad(U) = – i- j- k D
¶x ¶y ¶z
potential energy (U)

G
l If force varies with only one dimension (say along
A C
x-axis) then H

U2 x2 B
dU
F=–
dx
Þ dU = –Fdx Þ ò dU = - ò Fdx
U1 x1 x
F F F F
position of particle
Þ DU = –WC
Stable Equilibrium :
After a particle is slightly displaced from its equilibrium position if it tends to come back towards equilibrium
then it is said to be in stable equilibrium.
dU dU
At point A : slope is negative so F is positive At point C : slope is positive. so F is negative
dx dx

dU
At equilibrium F = - =0
dx
At point B : it is the point of stable equilibrium.

dU d2 U
At point B : U = Umin , = 0 & 2 = positive
dx dx

Unstable equilibrium :
After a particle is slightly displaced from its equilibrium position, if it tends to move away from equilibrium
position then it is said to be in unstable equilibrium.
dU dU
At point D : slope is positive so F is negative ; At point G : slope is negative so F is positive
dx dx

dU d2 U
At point E : it is the point of unstable equilibrium; At point E U=Umax, = 0 and = negative
dx dx2
Neutral equilibrium
After a particle is slightly displaced from its equilibrium position if no force acts on it then the equilibrium is
said to be neutral equilibrium.

dU d2 U
Point H corresponds to neutral equilibrium Þ U = constant ; =0, =0.
dx dx2

Work energy theorem (W = DKE )

Change in kinetic energy = work done by all forces

dU
For conservative force F ( x ) = -
dx

Change in potential energy DU = - ò F(x)dx

Law of conservation of Mechanical energy

Total mechanical (kinetic + potential) energy of a system remains constant if only conservative forces are acting
on the system of particles or the work done by all other forces is zero. From work energy theorem W = DKE
Proof : For internal conservative forces Wint = –DU
So W=Wext +Wint = 0 + Wint =–DUÞ–DU=DKE ÞD(KE+U) =0 ÞKE+U=constant

w Spring force F=–kx, Elastic potential energy stored in spring U ( x ) = 1 kx 2

2
w Mass and energy are equivalent and are related by E = mc2
Power
• Power is a scalar quantity with dimension M1L2T–3
• SI unit of power is J/s or watt
• 1 horsepower = 746 watt = 550 ft–lb/sec.
Average power : Pav= W/t
r r
dW F.dr r r
Instantaneous power : P = = = F.v
dt dt

fig.(a) fig.(b) fig.(c)

work
w2
work

w1
power

q time
time t1 t2
dt time instantaneous power average power
W= Pdt dW W 2- W 1 D W
P= =tanq P=Pav= =
dt t 2- t 1 Dt

r d r
r dv r dm
• For a system of varying mass F = ( mv ) = m +v
dt dt dt
r r dm rr 2 dm
• If vr = constant then F=v then P = F.v = v
dt dt
dq
• In rotatory motion : P=t = tw
dt

KEY POINTS

• A body may gain kinetic energy and potential energy simultaneously because principle of conservation of
mechanical energy may not be valid every time.

• Comets move around the sun in elliptical orbits. The gravitational force on the comet due to sun is not normal
to the comet's velocity but the work done by the gravitational force is zero in complete round trip because
gravitational force is a conservative force.

• Work done by static friction may be positive because static friction may acts along the direction of motion of
an object.

• Work done by static friction on a complete system is always zero but work done by static friction on an object
may be +ve, –ve or zero.

• Work done by kinetics friction on a complete system is always –ve.

• Work done by internal force of tension and normal reaction on a complete system is always zero.

• If momentum of a particle is zero, then its KE must be zero, but if momentum of a system is zero then its KE
may not be zero.

• If kinetic energy of a system is zero, then its momentum must be zero.

• A particle can have momentum without having total mechanical energy.