LECTURE GUIDE

MECHANICAL ENERGY

WHAT IS ENERGY? Energy is the capacity to do work. The greater the energy of a body, the greater is its capacity to perform any
work. This means that whenever work is done on an object, it gains enough energy. IF 1 newton-meter-of work is done, the object
gains 1 newton-meter of energy.

How important the many forms of energy in everyday lives?

Energy makes things happen. Every time something moves, it is because of energy. Every time something gets warmer, it is because
of energy. Every time something makes a noise, it is because of energy. People use energy to talk, run, and think. In fact, every time
we do anything, we use energy!
Energy is the capacity to do work. In science, the term work has a very special meaning. It means that an object has been moved
through a distance. Thus, pushing a brick across the top of a table is an example of doing work. By applying this definition of work,
then, energy can also be defined as the ability to move an object through a distance..
Energy can exist in many forms, including mechanical, heat, electrical, magnetic, sound, chemical, and nuclear. Although these
forms appear to be very different from each other, they often have much in common and can generally be transformed from one to
another.
Two types of Mechanical Energy
1. Kinetic Energy is energy due to its motion. An object in motion, whether it be vertical or horizontal motion, has kinetic energy.
e.g. moving cheetah, a running car, a bullet in motion, a stream of water or a revolving flywheel.
There are three types of kinetic energy and they are the following: (1) vibrational kinetic energy or energy due to vibrational
motion (2) translational kinetic energy or energy due to motion from one location to another.
To keep matters simple, we will focus on the third type --- the translational kinetic energy. The amount of translational kinetic
energy of an object (or simply kinetic energy) depends on two variables : the mass (m) of the object and its velocity (v).
The following equation is used to represent the kinetic energy (KE) of an object:
KE= ½ mv²
Where KE is energy in joules, m is the mass in kilograms (Kg), and v is the magnitude of velocity in meter per second.
Since mass is never negative and v² will always yield a positive result, a body’s kinetic energy has only two possible values: zero and
positive. Kinetic energy is zero when the object is not moving, and positive when the object is moving.
When using the above equation, you must understand the following points.
1. KE is directly proportional to mass. If the mass of the object increases, the KE increases by the same proportion,
2. KE is directly proportional to the square its speed. This means that for a twofold increase in speed (2x), the kinetic energy
will increase by a factor of four (4x); for a threefold increase in speed (3X), the kinetic energy will increase if nine (9x); and for
a fourfold increase in speed (4x), the kinetic energy will increase by a factor of sixteen (16x).
3. KE is scalar. Unlike velocity, acceleration, force and momentum, kinetic energy of an object is completely describes by
magnitude alone.
2. Potential Energy – is energy due to its position.
e.g. A pile driver stores energy when it is held at an elevated position, and releases this energy when it is used to ram objects.
A drawn bow also stores energy when it is pulled at a distance from its usual position.
Gravitational Potential Energy
Gravitational potential energy is the energy possessed by an object because its position (vertical separation from the earth);
for instance, a pile of books on top of the table, a stone hoisted to the top of a building, a car parked up on a ramp, etc. Aforementioned
examples possess more ability to do work than they can when they are at ground level.
Gravitational potential energy is energy depends on the height of an object relative to a reference point. It is computed as
PEgrav = mgh is the amount of gravitational potential energy in joules, m is the mass in (kg), g is acceleration due to gravity
(9.8m/s²), and h is the height relative to the reference point in meters.
There are two kinds of potential energy: gravitational potential energy and elastic potential energy.
1. Gravitational Potential energy is energy that depends on the height of an object relative to a reference point. Elastic potential
energy is the energy stored in a spring.
2. Elastic Energy- the energy stored in rubber bands and other similar objects or system. The amount of elastic potential energy
stored in such a device depends on the amount of the stretch of the device—the more stretch, the more stored energy.
PE spring = ½ kx²
LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
“States that energy neither be created nor destroyed but converted from one form of energy to another form”.

How Do Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy Apply to Everyday Life?

The pitcher winds up, then pitches. He demonstrates both potential energy in the windup, and kinetic energy in the pitch. Potential
energy is stored energy ready to release: A roller coaster at the top of its first peak, a car ready to descend R. Castillo street, an
eager student ready to leave his desk. The subsequent action is kinetic energy the energy of motion released. Both apply to
numerous everyday situations.

POWER & WORK

Two construction workers were asked to bring two sets of identical stacks of bricks in order to repair a chimney on top of the roof
of a building. One person took the elevator going up the roof and proceeded to do his task, while other had to use the stairs to get
the roof. Form our previous lesson, you know that both persons would be doing the same amount of work because they both
picked up an equal weight at the same height. However, they differ in the speed by which they accomplished the task. This
difference may be attributed to the concept of power.

Power is the rate at which work is performed or energy is converted. This means that the faster a person works, the more power
he/she exerts. When computing for power, the equation used is:

P=W/t where P is the power in watts, W is the work in joules and t is the time in seconds.