ENGINEERING MECHANICS

DYNAMICS
MPE 4151

CHAPTER NO 14
(SECTIONS 14.1-14.4, 14.6)
KINETICS OF A PARTICLE: WORK AND ENERGY

Lecturer: Muhammad Awais

OBJECTIVES:
• To develop the principle of work and energy and apply it
to solve problems that involve force, velocity, and
displacement.

• To study problems that involve power and efficiency.

• To introduce the concept of a conservative force and

apply the theorem of conservation of energy to solve
kinetic problems
14.1: THE WORK OF A FORCE

We will analyze motion of a particle using the concepts of work and

energy. The resulting equation will be useful for solving problems that
involve force, velocity, and displacement.

Before we do this, however, we must first define the work of a force.

Specifically, a force F will do work on a particle only when the particle
undergoes a displacement in the direction of the force.
 WHY ARE WE SO CONCERNED ABOUT SUMMATION OF
FORCES IN TANGENTIAL DIRECTION? WHY NOT FORCES IN
NORMAL DIRECTION?
n
F

Fsin θ
θ
s
Fcos θ
then the work done by F is a scalar quantity, defined by

Where, dr is equal to ds cosθ along the direction of the path

s.

Important Points:
• Work done is POSITIVE when the angle theta is
equal/between 0 and 90 degree.
• Work done is NEGATIVE when the angle theta is between
90 and 180 degree.
UNITS:
The unit of work in SI units is the joule (J), which is the amount of work done by a
one-newton force when it moves through a distance of one meter in the direction of
the force.

In the FPS system, work is measured in units of foot-pounds (ft.lb), which is the
work done by a one-pound force acting through a distance of one foot in the
direction of the force.
Work of a Variable Force:
TOTAL AREA UNDER THE CURVE
dr= cosθ ds
Work of a Constant Force Moving Along a Straight Line.

If the force Fc has a constant magnitude and acts at a constant angle θ

from its straight-line path then the component of Fc in the direction of
displacement is always Fc cosθ. The work done by Fc when the particle
is displaced from S1 to S2 is determined from following equation,
TOTAL AREA INSIDE THE
RECTANGULAR REGION
Work of a Weight:
APPLY THE DOT PRODUCT FORMULA FOR UNIT VECTORS,
Thus, the work is independent of the path and is equal to the magnitude
of the particle's weight times its vertical displacement. In the case shown
the work is negative, since W is downward and deltay is upward.
Note, however, that if the particle is displaced downward (-deltay), the
work of the weight is positive. Why?
Work of a Spring Force
If an elastic spring is elongated a distance ds, then the work done by the force that acts on the
attached particle is,
State 1: When Fs=0
spring is
unstretched

s  𝟏
 
State 2: When
 
spring is Fs = -k
compressed

s  𝟐
 
State 3: When  
spring
Fs = -k
stretched
Trapezoidal Area under
the line representing
work done
Problem No 1:
The 10-kg block rests on the smooth incline. If the spring is originally
stretched 0.5m, determine the total work done by all the forces acting
on the block when a horizontal force P = 400 N pushes the block up the
plane s = 2 m.

2m

  𝟎
𝟑𝟎
 W

Y
  𝟎
𝟑𝟎
Fs 𝟎
𝟑𝟎
 
p

  𝟎
𝟑𝟎 X
NB
 
Horizontal Force P:

Equation for calculating work done when the external force acting on a
particle is constant.
Spring Force Fs.

0.5m
Weight W:
Normal Force NB: This force does no work since it is always
perpendicular to the displacement.

NB

θ S
Total Work.

Work
Work Spring
done by
done by force
weight
horizontal
force P
14.2: Principle of Work and Energy
After
substitution
multiply the
Applying the Chain rule equation on
for tangential acceleration, both sides with
ds
 
=

∑Ft ds = mvdv
∫x   = x 
n n+1
 /n+1 
T2 T1
14.3: Principle of Work and Energy for a System of Particles
Here the arbitrary ith
particle, having a mass
mi, is subjected to a
resultant
external force Fi and a
resultant internal force fi
which all the other
particles exert on the ith
particle. If we apply the
principle of work and
energy to this and each
of the other particles in
the system, then since
work and energy are
scalar quantities, the
equations can be
summed
algebraically.
Work of Friction Caused by Sliding.

EXTERNAL FRICTIONAL
TRANSLATIO FORCE
NAL FORCE
• The following equation is satisfied  if P = N

• The sliding motion will generate heat, a form of energy.

• The rough portions at the bottom of the block act as "teeth," and when
the block slides these teeth deform slightly and either break off or
vibrate as they pull away from "teeth" at the contacting surface. As a
result, frictional forces that act on the block at these points are
displaced slightly, due to the localized deformations.

teeth
  

• At any instant, the resultant F of all these frictional

forces remains essentially constant, i.e., N; however,
due to the many localized deformations, the actual
displacement s’ of N is not the same as the displacement
s of the applied force P. Instead, s' will be less than s (s'
< s), and therefore the external work done by the
resultant frictional force will be Ns' and not Ns. The
remaining amount of work, N(s - s’), manifests itself as
an increase in internal energy, which in fact causes the
block's temperature to rise.
••  To
conclude, it should be fully realized that the work
of the resultant frictional force is not represented by
Ns; instead, this term represents both the external
work of friction (Ns ') and internal work [Ns(s - s')]
which is converted into various forms of internal
energy, such as heat.
Problem No 2:  

The 3500-lb automobile travels down the 10° inclined road at a speed of
20 ft/s. If the driver jams on the brakes, causing his wheels to lock,
determine how far s the tires skid on the road. The coefficient of kinetic
friction between the wheels and the road is k = 0.5.
 y

x
Y’

X’
 CASE 1: WHEN ROAD IS NOT-INCLINED
W

V
180 DEGREE

CASE 2: WHEN ROAD IS INCLINED AT AN ANGLE θ

θ

θ
 APPLYING EQUATION OF EQUILIBRIUM
STEP 1: CONSIDER ALL THE FORCES IN NORMAL DIRECTION:
Principle of Work and Energy
 ASSIGNMENT PROBLEMS:

EXAMPLES: 14.3, 14.4, 14.6.

EXERCISE PROBLEMS: 14.4, 14.5, 14.7, 14.8-14.15, 14.17, 14.19,

14.26, 14.29.
14.4: Power and Efficiency
POWER: The term "power" provides a useful basis for choosing the type of
motor or machine which is required to do a certain amount of work in a
given time. For example, two pumps may each be able to empty a
reservoir if given enough time; however, the pump having the larger
power will complete the job sooner.

The power generated by a machine or engine that performs an amount of

work dU within the time interval dt is therefore ,
EFFICIENCY: The mechanical efficiency of a machine is defined as the
ratio of the output of useful power produced by the machine to the input
of power supplied to the machine. Hence,
PROBLEM NO 3:  

The man pushes on the 50-kg crate with a force of F = 150 N. Determine
the power supplied by the man when t = 4 s. The coefficient of kinetic
friction between the floor and the crate is
= 0.2. Initially the create is at rest.
 FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING STEPS AND SOLVE IT BY YOURSELF:

• Find out the component of all the externally acting forces in x-

direction.
• Next, repeat the same step but this time for forces in y-direction.
• Find out the two unknowns such as normal force N and acceleration of
crate a by simultaneously solving the already formed equations from
the first two steps.
• Applying suitable Newton’s equation of motion to obtain the velocity
of the crate.
• Then substitute the velocity in equation of power to avail final result.
 ASSIGNMENT PROBLEMS:

EXAMPLE: 14.8
EXERCISE PROBLEMS: 14.52, 14.46, 14.53, 14.59, 14.54, 14.62, 14.67-68,
 Classification of forces

Conservative Non-conservative
forces forces

Work done by these forces Work done by these forces

to the objects only to the objects depends on
depends on the initial and the initial and final
final position not the path position not the path
taken by the objects. taken by the objects.

Frictional force
Gravitational force
Spring force
Electrostatic force
Magnetic Force
•  Gravitational potential energy :
An object has GPE due to its position on gravitational field.
•Elastic
  potential energy :
Ability of a spring force to do work to an object that is attached to the spring.
When an elastic spring is elongated or compressed a distance s from its unstretched
position, elastic potential energy can be stored in the spring. This energy is,
14.6 Conservation of Energy

When a particle is acted upon by a system of both conservative

(work done by conservative forces is independent of path) and
nonconservative forces (work done by conservative forces is
dependent of path such as ), the portion of the work done by the
conservative forces can be written in terms of the difference in
their potential energies.
The work done by a conservative force in moving the particle from one
point to another point is measured by the difference of this function, i.e.,
As a result, the principle of work and energy can be written as

If only conservative forces do work then we have,

• A Gantry is an overhead bridge-like structure supporting equipment such
as a crane and signals etc.
PROBLEM 4: The gantry structure in the photo is used to test the
response of an airplane during a crash. The plane, having a mass of
8Mg, is hoisted back until θ = 60°, and then the pull-back cable AC is
released when the plane is at rest. Determine the speed of the plane just
before it crashes into the ground, θ = 15°. Also, what is the maximum
tension developed in the supporting cable during the motion? Neglect
the size of the airplane and the effect of lift caused by the wings during
the motion
 20sinθ

20cosθ

Datum
• Equation of Motion.
• ASSIGNMENT PROBLEMS:

• EXAMPLES: 14.10, 14.11

• EXERCISE PROBLEMS: 14.80, 14.81, 14.83, 14.85

• NOTE: TAKE
A LOOK AT THE CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS
(Page=217(234/753)) TO GAIN SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE
ABOUT THE IMPELEMENTATION OF MENTIONED
EQUATIONS IN PRACTICAL CASES.