Physics Notes

Work ,Energy & Power.

Energy:
 Energy is a property of an object that is stored or transferred
 Energy must be transferred to an object to perform work on or heat up that
object
 Energy is measured in units of joules (J)

Energy transfers:
 Energy is transferred between stores through different energy transfer
pathways
Energy transfer pathways
 The energy transfer pathways are:
o Mechanical

o Electrical

o Heating

o Radiation

Table of energy transfer pathways

Transfer Pathway Description

Mechanical working When a force acts on an object (e.g. pulling, pushing, stretching, squashin

Electrical working A charge moving through a potential difference (e.g. current)

Heating (by particles) Energy is transferred from a hotter object to a colder one (e.g. conduction

(Heating by) radiation Energy transferred by electromagnetic waves (e.g. visible light)

 An example of an energy transfer by heating is a hot coffee heating up cold

hands

Kinetic energy:
 Energy in an object's kinetic store is defined as:
 Physics Notes
The amount of energy an object has as a result of its mass and speed
 This means that any object in motion has energy in its kinetic energy store
o If an object speeds up, energy is transferred to its kinetic store

o If an object slows down, energy is transferred away from its kinetic

store

 Energy in an object's kinetic store is defined as: 𝑬𝒌 = 𝟏/ 𝟐 𝒎𝒗 �

Where: Ek= kinetic energy, measured in joules (J)
m= mass of the object, measured in kilograms (kg)
v= speed of the object, measured in meters per second (m/s)
The kinetic energy equation demonstrates that if the mass of an object is
doubled for a given speed, then its kinetic energy will double
o This is because kinetic energy is directly proportional to mass

If the speed of the object is doubled for a given mass, it will have four
times the kinetic energy
o This is because kinetic energy is directly proportional to velocity
squared

Gravitational potential energy:

Extended tier only
 Energy in an object's gravitational potential energy store is defined
as:
The energy an object has due to its height in a gravitational field
 Work is done against the weight force exerted on the object;
therefore, energy is transferred
 This means that:
o if an object is lifted up, energy will be transferred to its
gravitational potential store
o if an object is lowered, energy will be transferred away from
its gravitational potential store
 Physics Notes
Energy is transferred to the mass's gravitational store as it is lifted
through the gravitational field
Gravitational potential energy equation
 The change in energy in an object's gravitational potential energy
store can be calculated using the equation:
ΔPE g = mgh
Where:
change in gravitational potential energy, measured in joules (J)
mass, measured in kilograms (kg)
gravitational field strength, measured in newtons per kilogram
(N/kg)
change in height, measured in metres (m)

Electrical Energy:
- Fluorescent Bulb: Electrical energy → More light than thermal
energy - Incandescent Bulb: Electrical energy → More thermal than
light energy - Saving water conserves energy because less electrical
energy of the pump is needed to be converted into kinetic energy of
water - Air Conditioner: Electrical energy → Net thermal energy

Mechanical Energy:
- Sum of kinetic and potential energy in an object used to do work -
Mechanical energy of an object is constant if its weight is only force
acting on it .

𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒆:
= 𝑭 × 𝒔  Where F = force (N) , s = displacement (m), Work Done
units: joules
=Calculating energy in joules: Power in watts (W) and time in
seconds (s)

Power:
 Physics Notes
 Definition: The rate of doing work 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 = 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆
× 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

 Unit: Watt (W) / Joules per second (J s-1)

Efficiency:
- Efficiency = (Useful output energy/Total input energy) x 100%
- Efficiency = (Useful mechanical work done/Total input energy) x
100%
- Efficiency = (Useful output power/Total input power) x 100%

Conservation of energy:
 The principle of conservation of energy states that:
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred
from one store to another
 The principle of conservation of energy means that for a closed
system, the total amount of energy is constant
 The total amount of energy transferred into the system must
be equal to the total amount of energy transferred away from the
system
 Therefore, energy cannot be ‘lost’, but it can be transferred to the
surroundings
o Energy can be dissipated (spread out) to the surroundings by
heating and radiation
o Dissipated energy transfers are often not useful, in which case
they can be described as wasted energy

Examples of the principle of conservation of

energy:
Example 1: a bat hitting a ball
 The moving bat has energy in its kinetic store
 Physics Notes
 Some of that energy is transferred usefully to the kinetic store of
the ball
 Some of that energy is transferred from the kinetic store of the bat
to the thermal store of the ball mechanically due to the impact of
the bat on the ball
o This energy transfer is not useful; the energy is wasted

 Some of that energy is dissipated by heating to the thermal store of

the bat, the ball, and the surroundings
o This energy transfer is not useful; the energy is wasted

 The total amount of energy transferred into the system is equal to

the total amount of energy transferred away from the system

Thermal Expansion
Thermal energy flows from a hot body to a cold body.
Temperature measures the amount of thermal or internal energy in a
body. In everyday terms, it measures how hot a body is.

Thermal Expansion in case of solids:

 Particles are close together and vibrate about fixed points in a
regular array or lattice.
 As temperature increases, the particles vibrate further and faster.
This pushes the fixed points a little further apart and the solid
expands.

Liquids when heated expand more than solids but less than gases:
 Particles are slightly further apart than in solids but still close
enough to keep a definite volume.
 The main motion of the particles is vibration. The particles also
move randomly in all directions, not being fixed to each other.
 As temperature increases, the particles move faster and further
apart, so there is a small expansion of a liquid.

Gases when heated expand the most:

 Particles are much further apart than in solids or liquids.
 They move much faster than in solids or liquids and move
throughout the available space.
 The higher the temperature, the faster the speed of the
particles.
 Physics Notes
 The higher the temperature, the larger the volume of a gas to
keep the pressure constant.
 There is a considerable expansion of a gas with increases in
temperature at constant pressure.

Thermal Expansion
 When a material is heated:
 Its temperature increases
 Its overall volume increases (it expands)
 Its density decreases

This expansion happens because:

 The molecules start to move around (or vibrate) faster as they
gain kinetic energy
 This causes them to collide with each other more often and
push each other apart

When a solid is heated, the molecules vibrate more, pushing each

other apart
 Thermal expansion occurs in solids, liquids and gases

When temperature is increased (at constant pressure):

 Solids will tend to expand the least
 Gases expand the most
 Liquids fall in between the two

Uses & Consequences of Thermal Expansion:

 The thermal expansion of materials can have some useful
applications as well as some undesirable consequences

Applications of Thermal Expansion

• Useful applications of thermal expansion include:
o Liquid-in-glass thermometers
o Temperature-activated switches
 Physics Notes
Liquid-in-glass thermometer
• A liquid-in-glass thermometer relies on the expansion of liquids to
measure temperature
• It consists of a thin glass capillary tube containing a liquid that expands
with temperature
o At one end of the tube is a glass bulb, containing a large volume of the
liquid which expands into the narrow tube when heated
o A scale along the side of the tube allows the temperature to be
measured based on the length of liquid within the tube

Consequences of Thermal Expansion

• The expansion of solid materials can cause them to buckle if they get
too hot
• This could include:
o Metal railway tracks
o Road surfaces
o Bridges
• Objects that are prone to buckling in this way have gaps built in to
creates space for the expansion to happen without causing damage.

Pressure:
 Pressure is defined as the force per unit area.
 Pressure has the symbol p and its unit is the pascal (Pa).
 Pressure, force and area are related by the formula:

F
p
=

A
 p=pressure (Pa) or (N/m2)
 F=force (N)
 2
Physics Notes
 A=area (m )
 1Pa is equivalent to 1N/m2 (newton per metre squared).
 Pressure can be increased by increasing the force on a constant
area.
 Pressure can be increased by decreasing the area for a constant
force.