Module 3: Work, Energy and Power

Lesson 1: Work
What is Work?
Work, in physics, measure of energy transfer that occurs when an object is moved over a
distance by an external force at least part of which is applied in the direction of the displacement.
If the force is constant, work may be computed by multiplying the length of the path by the
component of the force acting along the path.
When the force (F) moves through a displacement (s) and the direction of these two vectors are
the same as the presented in figure 1, the work (W) is defined as the product of the magnitude of
force (F) and the displacement (s).

Thus, the amount of work can be expressed using equation 1.0.

W=Fxs (1.0)
where: W – amount of work done
F – amount of force exerted
S – displacement or distance travelled
When the force (F) moves through a displacement (s) and the direction of these two vectors are
not the same as the presented in figure 2, the work (W) will be now defined as the product of the
magnitude of force (F) and the component of the displacement (s) cos θ in the direction of the
force.

Thus, the amount of work can be expressed through equation 2.0.

W = (F cos θ) (s) (2.0)
where: W – amount of work done
 F – amount of force exerted
S – displacement or distance travelled
θ – angular direction of the exerted force (F) with respect to horizontal
Although the work (W) is the product of two vector quantities which are the force and
displacement, it is itself a scalar quantity. When two (2) vector quantities are multiplied so as to
produce a scalar quantity, this process is called scalar multiplication of vectors.

Units to Describe Work

Newton-meter (N-m) is the unit of work in mks system. In this unit, the is work done by a force
of one Newton (1N) exerted through a distance of 1 meter when the force is parallel to the
displacement. One (1) Newton-meter is equivalent to a Joule (J) or 1 Joule. This unit was named
after the British physicist James Prescott Joule (1818-1889, whose experiments contributed
heavily to the acceptance of the relationship between heat and work.
In cgs system, the unit of work is the erg, which is the work done by one dyne of force exerted
over a distance of 1 centimeter ( 1 erg = 1dyne/cm). An erg is equivalent to 10-7 J.
In the British unit of measurement, foot-pound (ft-lb) is the unit of work. Foot – pound (ft-lb) is
the work done by a 1 pound (lb) of force acting over a displacement of 1 foot (ft) in the direction
of the force.
Another unit of work commonly used in electrical system is the kilowatt-hour (kW-hr).
Presented in table 1 below are the different units and equivalents that can be used to describe
work.

Sample Problems:
1. A box is pushed without acceleration 5.0 m along a horizontal floor against a frictional
force of 180N. How much work is done?
Solution:
Considering point, a is the starting point and where the box stayed at rest before a 180N
amount of force is exerted to it by pushing and point b is the final point or location where
the box reached during the pushing action. The distance of these two points is equal to
5.0 meters and this distance will serve as the displacement (s) of the work being done.
Thus, using equation 1.0, the amount of worked done can be calculated as;
W=Fxs
W = (150 N) (5.0 m)
W = 900N-m`
W = 900J (answer)

2. What amount of work is performed in dragging a sled 50 ft horizontally without

acceleration when the force of 60 lb is transmitted by a rope making an angle of 30o with
the ground (see figure 3).

Solution:
Taking point a as the staring point were the sledge move towards point b, having a
displacement of 50ft through dragging action. The force exerted on the rope is equivalent
 to 60lb forming an angular direction of 30o from the horizontal. The component of the
force in the direction of the displacement is F cos 30o. Using equation 2.0, the amount of
work performed by dragging a sledge is calculated as;
W = (F cos θ) (s)
W = (60lb cos 30o) (50ft)
W = 51.96 lb x 50 ft
W = 2,598.076 ft-lb
W = 2.6 x 103 ft-lb (answer)

Application:
Solved the following problems correctly. Write and present your answer with complete solution
legibly.
1. A crate of mass 50kg is pushed along a floor with a force of 20N for a distance of 5m.
Calculate the work done.

2. How far must a 5N force pull a 50g toy car if 30J of energy are transferred?

3. If you do 1450 J of work in carrying a load og=f books up a flight of stairs, covering a vertical
distance of 15 m, what is the mass of the books?
4. A shopper pushes a shopping cart with a force of 6.9 N at an angle of 59° to the left of the
negative y-axis. While the cart moves a horizontal distance of 7.0 m, what is the work done by
the shopper on the shopping cart?

5. A 100-N horizontal force is used to drag a 20kg box 2.0-m across a frictionless table. How
much work is done on the box?

Closure:
Congratulations! You have completed the lesson ‘Work’. You may now proceed to your
next lesson ‘Energy’. Just enjoy and keep working.

Lesson 2: Energy
What is Energy?
Energy is the property that must be transferred to an object in order to perform work on, or to
heat, the object. It can be converted in any form, but not created or destroyed. The SI unit of
energy is the joule (J), which is the energy transferred to an object by the work of moving it a
distance of 1 meter against a force of 1 newton.
Energy id the property of the body or systems of bodies of which work can be performed. Energy
can exist in many forms and can be transformed from one form to another.
Basic Forms of Energy
1. Potential Energy. Energy in of position or configuration or known as energy at rest.
Any type of stored energy. It can be chemical, nuclear, gravitational, or mechanical.
2. Kinetic Energy. The energy possessed by an object by virtue of its motion or energy in
motion. Found in movement. An airplane flying or a meteor plummeting each have
kinetic energy. Even the tiniest things have kinetic energy, like atoms vibrating when
they are hot or when they transmit sound waves. Electricity is the kinetic energy of
flowing electrons between atoms.
When work is done in the body with the absence of frictional forces, the work done is equal to
the sum of the increase in kinetic energy and the increase of potential energy. The units in which
the energy is expressed are the same as the units of work.

Potential Energy (Ep)

Potential (Ep) energy d the energy which bodies possess by virtue of their positions,
configurations or internal mechanisms. Important forms of this type energy are electrical, elastic,
chemical and nuclear potential energy. The most common form of potential energy is the
gravitational energy.
Since earth attracts everybody, work is required to lift the body into a higher level. When a brick
is carried to the top of the building, the work done on the brick (weight of the brick times vertical
distance) represents energy that can be recovered. By virtue of its position at the top of the
building, the brick possesses more ability to do work than it had when it was at ground level. It
has increased its potential energy. The work done on the brick, and hence the potential energy
gained, is the product of weight (W) and the height (h) to which it raised. Thus, this increase in
potential energy is given by;
Ep = Wh = mgh (3.0)
where: Ep – potential energy
W – weight
h – height
m – mass
 g – gravitational acceleration
Units of Potential Energy
If weight (W) is Newton (N), mass (m) is in kilograms (kg) and height (h) is in meters (m) then
the potential energy (Ep) will be in terms of joules (J). If when W is in pounds (lb), mass is in
slugs and h is in feet (ft) then the Ep will be in terms of foot-pounds (ft-lb). Lastly, if when W is
in dynes mass is in grams (g) and h is in centimeters (cm) then the Ep will be in terms ergs.
Presented in table 2 are the different units that will describe and can be used in the measurement
of the potential energy.

Sample Problems:
1. A 40 lb stone is hoisted to the top of the building 100 ft high. How much does its potential
energy increase?
Solution:
Friction is being neglected, the increase in potential energy is just the amount of work done in
lifting the stone, thus the potential energy can be calculated as
Ep = F x s Ep = 40 lb x 100ft Ep = 4,000 ft-lb Ep = 4.0 x 103 ft-lb (answer)
2. A 40lb stone is carried up a ramp, along a path making a 30o angle to the horizontal, to the top
of the building 100 ft high as presented in figure 4 below. How much work is done? (Neglect
Friction)

Solution:
As presented in figure 4a, the traverse distance by the stone up to the top of the building is 200 ft.
The force exerted on the stone is equal in magnitude to its weight. Figure 4b show a freebody
diagram, it shows that the angle between the force and the displacement is 60o. Thus, the work
done in carrying the stone to the top of the building is
W = (F cos θ) (s)
W = (40lb cos 60o) (200ft)
W = (20lb) (200ft)
W = 4,000 ft-lb
W = 4.0 x 103 ft-lb (answer)

3. A box has a mass of 5.8kg. The box is lifted from the garage floor and placed on a shelf. If the
box gains 145 J of Potential Energy (Ep), how high is the shelf?
Solution:
Given the following values; m = 5.8 kg, Ep = 145 J and a constant gravitational acceleration (g)
= 9.8 m/s2, then the height of the shelf being lifted from the floor of the garage can be computed
using equation 1.0

Kinetic Energy (Ek)

In physics, the kinetic energy (Ek) of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion. It
is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity.
Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless
its speed changes.
Kinetic energy, form of energy that an object or a particle has by reason of its motion. If work,
which transfers energy, is done on an object by applying a net force, the object speeds up and
thereby gains kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is a property of a moving object or particle and
depends not only on its motion but also on its mass. The kind of motion may be translation (or
motion along a path from one place to another), rotation about an axis, vibration, or any
combination of motions.
In addition to energy of position or state, objects may possess energy due to their motions. A car
or a bullet in motion, a stream of water, or a revolving flywheel possesses kinetic energy. The
kinetic energy of a moving object can be measured by the amount of work it will do brought to
rest or by the amount of work originally needed to impart the velocity to it, it circumstances
where the work cannot also go into potential energy.
Consider a body with an initial speed vo on which a steady unbalance force F acts as its moves a
distance s. The body gains speed at a rate given a =F/m until it reaches a final speed v1. The
work done on the body by the unbalanced force that accelerated it appears as a change in its
kinetic energy. Since F = ma, multiplying by s gives Fs = mas and the change in kinetic energy is
Δ(Ek) = Fs = mas (4.0)
From the relationship between acceleration (a), distance (s) and velocity (v):
2as = v12 – v02 (5.0)
The equation 5.0 can be also expressed as

Substituting the value of as to equation 4.0 will give

If the body was initially at rest, v0 = 0 and the gain in kinetic energy is the final kinetic energy.
This, the kinetic energy of the body at any instant is

Units of Kinetic Energy

If mass (m) is in kilograms (kg) and velocity (v) is in meters per second (m/s), the kinetic energy
will be in Joule (J) unit. If the mass was expresses is slug and the velocity is in feet per second
(ft/s), the unit of kinetic energy is in terms of foot-pound (ft-lb). Lastly, if the mass of an object
is in terms of grams (g) and the velocity is in centimeters per second (cm/s), the unit for kinetic
energy is ergs.
Presented in table 3 are the different units that will describe and can be used in the measurement
of the kinetic energy.

Sample Problems:
1. What is the kinetic energy of 3,000 lb automobile which is moving at 30 mi/h (44 ft/s)
Solution:
The kinetic energy of the automobile can be computed using 6.0. But first, there is a need to
compute the equivalent mass of the 3,000lb given weight of the automobile with respect to the
gravitational acceleration. Thus, the mass of the automobile is

Then the kinetic energy possessed by the automobile is

2. What average force is necessary to stop a bullet of mass 20 g (0.020kg) and a speed of 250m/s
as it penetrates to wood to a distance of 12 cm (0.12m)?
Solution:
The work done by the retarding force is equal to the initial kinetic energy of the bullet. Thus, the
force necessary to stop the bullet is

3. An object moving with a speed of 67 m/s and has a kinetic energy of 500 J, what is the mass
of the object
Solution:

Application:
Direction: Solved the following problems correctly. Write and present your answer with
complete solution legibly
A. Potential Energy
1. A man climbs on to a wall that is 3.6m high and gains 2268J of potential energy. What is the
mass of the man?

2. An 800g ball is pulled up a slope as shown in the diagram. Calculate the potential energy it
gains.
3. A 267.5kg weight is lifted by a weightlifter 2.1 meters high off the floor. Calculate the
gravitational potential energy of the bar at its highest point.

4. An 80kg firefighter is trapped on top of a burning building. His colleagues, on the ground,
suggest he jump onto a blue safety-mat placed at the base of the building. Calculate the
firefighter's gravitational potential energy if the top of the building is 200m high.

5. A 120g model rocket sits on the launch pad ready for launch. It contains 47.67g of fuel. The
rocket reaches a peak altitude of 100m. Assuming all the fuel is burnt, calculate the gravitational
potential energy of the rocket at peak altitude.

B. Kinetic Energy
1. A car is travelling at a velocity of 10 m/s and it has a mass of 250 Kg. Compute its Kinetic
energy.

2. A man is transporting a trolley of mass 6 Kg and having Kinetic energy of 40 J. Compute its
velocity with which he is running.
3. An object moving with a speed of 21 m/s and has a kinetic energy of 140 J, what is the mass
of the object?

4. A 5000kg truck has 400000J of kinetic energy. How fast is it moving?

5. A 70kg man runs at a pace of 4 m/s and a 50g meteor travels at 2 km/s. Which has the most
kinetic energy?

Closure:
Congratulations! You have completed the lesson ‘Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy’. You
may now proceed to your next lesson ‘Power’. Just enjoy and keep working.

Lesson 3: Power
Power

• The rate of working 1 joule per second (scalar just like energy).
• It is common to say that the strong person is “powerful”.
 • In physics, strength, or force, and power are not the same.
• Large forces maybe exerted without any movement and thus no work is done and the
power is zero.
• Large rock resting on the ground is not moving and yet exerts a large amount of force.
• 1Hp = 746 Watts

Consider a force F which moves a distance x at constant speed v in the direction of the force, in
time t

Example 1:
A fork lift truck can raise a load of 315kg to a height of 2m in 20seconds. What is the power
developed?
Solution:
Work Done = F x d note: F = mass x gravity
= (315kg x 9.81m/s2) (2m)
= (3,090.15 N) (2m)
= 6,180.30 J
Power = Work/Time taken
=6,180.30 J/ 20sec
Power = 309 Watts (answer)

Example 2:
A mouse of mass 30g runs up a 2m curtain in 4sec. calculate its power in watts.
Solution:
Work done = F x d
= (0.03kg x 9.81m/s2) (2m)
= 0.5886 J
Power = work/time taken
= 0.5886 J / 4sec
Power = 0.147 W (answer)

Application:
1. A 55-kg person runs up the stairs 10 meters high in 3 minutes. Acceleration due to
gravity (g) is 9.81 m/s2. Determine the power.
2. Calculate the power required of a 70-kg person who climbs a tree 5 meters high in 20
seconds. Acceleration due to gravity is 9.81 m/s2.

3. How much power is done in lifting an object that weighs 250N to a height of 4m in
just 5sec?