Lecture 6: Work and Kinetic Energy
of the force vector and displacement
What is energy?
- Abstract quantity
- No exact definition
- Manifests in different forms
- Quantity involved in all interactions
leading to changes in state of
objects/systems
o Phase change (e.g. solid to
liquid)
o Changes in object’s
properties (e.g. cold to hot)
o Changes in object’s state of
motion (e.g. accelerating and
object to a new position)
Work
- As a scientific concept, work is Npt a
measure of exhaustion!
- Measure of energy transferred from
one system to another for a change
of state to occur.
- Occurs through an interaction
involving forces and the
displacements these forces undergo.
- For an object moving in one
dimension, the work W done on the
object by a constant applied force F
is
W =F x ∆ x
Unit: Joules (J) = N.m
Where F x = component of the force
in the direction of the object’s
motion
∆ x= the object’s displacement
- Work is a scalar quantity.
- Compute by getting the dot product
vector.
W =⃗ F ∙ ∆ ⃗r
- Recall: W =⃗
F ∙ ∆ ⃗r =|⃗
F||∆ ⃗r| cos θ
¿ F x ∆ rx + F y ∆ r y+ F z ∆ rz
o Where θ= angle between the
force and the displacement
vector
Work is positive when the force has a
component in the same direction with the
displacement
Work is negative when the force has a
component opposite to the displacement
Work is zero when the force is
perpendicular to the displacement
Example 1: Mr. Clean
A man cleaning a floor pulls a vacuum
cleaner with a force of magnitude F= 50.0 N
at an angle of 30.0° with the horizontal.
Calculate the work done by the force on the
vacuum cleaner as the vacuum cleaner is
displaced 3.00 m to the right.
Conceptual check:
The gravitational force exerted by the Sun
on the Earth holds the Earth in an orbit
around the Sun. Let us assume that the
orbit is perfectly circular. What is the work
done by this gravitational force during a
short time interval in which the Earth
moves through a displacement in its orbital
path?
Conceptual check 2: Example 4: Stuck cruise ship
When a punter kicks a football, A tugboat pushes an ocean liner with a
force of 830 kN, moving it 0.38 km and
a) Is he doing any work on the ball
doing 290 MJ of work. What is the angle
while his toe is in contact with it?
between the direction of the tugboat’s push
b) Is he doing any work on the ball
and the motion of the ship?
after it loses contact with his toe?
c) Are any forces doing work on the
ball while it is in flight?
Total work
Conceptual check 3:
The work done by the NET FORCE is the
As a pendulum swings back and forth, the TOTAL WORK.
forces acting on the suspended object are
1st approach:
the gravitational force, the tension in the
supporting cord, and air resistance. - Calculate first the work done by
each force
a) Which of these forces, if any, does
- Get the algebraic sum of the
no work on the pendulum?
quantities of the work done by the
b) Which of these forces always does
individual forces.
negative work during its motion?
- This will be the TOTAL WORK done.
c) Describe the work done by the
gravitational force while the 2nd approach:
pendulum is swinging.
- Get the net force
Example 2: Stopping a car - Calculate the work done
Antonio was driving his Peugeot 5008 SUV Example 5:
on a rainy day when the car started to skid.
Farmer Benton hitches hos tractor to a sled
The coefficient of kinetic friction between
loaded with firewood and pulls it a distance
the wet, horizontal road and the wheels of
of 20 m along level ground. The total weight
his skidding car is 0.21. the mass of the car
of sled and load is 14,700 N. the tractor
is 1500 kg. How much work does the
exerts a constant 5000-N force at an angle
friction force do in the car if the car comes
of 36.9° above the horizontal. There is a
to a stop in 54 m?
3500-N friction force opposing the sled’s
Example 3: Girl pushes on Boy motion. Find the work done by each force
acting on the sled and the total work done
A girl pushes on boy with a force F=
by all the forces.
490i+230j N, giving the boy a displacement
Δr= 1.77i+1.90j m. How much work does
the girl do?
Example 6: Forces on a hammerhead
The 200-kg steel hammerhead of a pile
driver is lifted 3.00 m above the top of a
vertical I-beam being driven into the
ground. The hammerhead is then dropped,
driving the I-beam 7.4 cm deeper into the
ground. The vertical guide rails exert a
constant 60-N friction force on the
hammerhead. Use the work-energy
theorem to find:
a) The speed of the hammerhead just
as it hits the I-beam and
b) The average force the hammerhead
exerts on the I-beam. Ignore the
effects of the air.
Work and Energy with varying Forces
How can we compute work of the force
varies with displacement?
- If the forces are different at each
instant,
W =Fa ∆ x a + F b ∆ x b+ …
Sum of the areas approximates the
total work done!
- Work for varying x-component force
at a straight-line displacement.
x2
W =∫ F x dx
x1
- Area under the F vs. x curve
between the initial and final
positions.

The meaning of Kinetic Energy Work you do by stretching a spring

W tot = K−0=K
- Force you need to stretch a spring
- The kinetic energy of a particle is F x =kx
equal to the work done to Hooke’s Law
accelerate it from rest to its present - When elongation goes from zero to
speed. maximum value X
1
- The kinetic energy of a particle is W = k X2
equal to the total work the particle 2
can do in the process of being - When elongation goes from x f to x i
xf xf
brought to rest. 1 1
W =∫ F x dx=∫ kx dx= k x2 f − k x 2i
x x
2 2
Test your understanding i i

Two iceboats hold a reace on a frictionless

horizontal lake. The two iceboats have
masses m and 2m respectively. Each iceboat
has an identical sail, so the wind exerts the
same constant force F on each iceboat. The
two iceboats start from rest and cross the
finish line a distance s away. Which iceboat
crosses the finish line with greater kinetic Example 8: work done on a spring scale
energy?
A woman weighing 600 N steps on a
bathroom scale conataining a stiff spring. In
equilibrium the spring is compressed 1.0 cm
under her weight. Find the force constant of
the spring and the total work done on it
during the compression
Example 9: work done by the Sun on a
probe
The interplanetary probe is attracted to the
2
−1.3× 10
Sun by the force given byF=
x2
In SI units, where x is the Sun-probe
separation distance. Determine how much
work is done by the Sun on the probe as the
probe-Sun separation changes 1.5 x 1011 m
to 2.3 x 1011 m.
Work-Energy Theorem for Straight-Line
Motion, Varying Forces
- If the forces varies, how cane we
compute work from relations of
kinetic energy?
1 1
W tot =∆ K= m v 2f − m v 2i
2 2
Even if forces varies, it is easy to
compute work! We just need the
initial and final speeds!
Example 10a: Motion with varying forces
An air-track glider of mass 0.100 kg is
attached to the end of a horizontal air track
by a spring with force constant 20.0 N/m.
Initially the spring is unstretched and the
glider is moving at 1.50 m/s to the right.
Find the maximum distance d that the glider
moves to the right
- If the air track is turned on so that
there is no friction
Example 10b: Motion with varying force
What if the air is turned off so that there is
kinetic friction with coefficient μk =0.47
Work-Energy Theorem for Motion along a
Curve, Varying Forces
- If the force varies in magnitude and
direction, how can we compute
work from relations of kinetic
energy?
P2 P2
W =∫ Fcosϕdl=∫ ⃗
F ∙ d l⃗
P1 P1
Example 11: Motion with varying force
At a family picnic you are appointed to push
your obnoxious cousin Rod in a swing. His
weight is w, the length of the chains is R,
and you push Rod until the chains make an
angle θ0 with the vertical. To do this, you
exert a varying horizontal force F that starts
at zero and gradually increases just enough
that Rod and the swing move very slowly
and remain very nearly in equilibrium
throughout the process. What is the total
work done on Rod by all forces? (neglect
the weight of the chains and seat.)
Power
- What is the difference between
climbing a flight of stairs and
running up a flight of stairs?
- In running, the rate at which you do
work is GREATER! (work is done at a
lesser time)
- Average power
 ∆W
Pave =
∆t
- Instantaneous Power
∆ W dW
P= lim =
∆ t → 0 ∆t dt

- SI Unit: Watt(W)
o 1 watt= 1 J/s
- British unit: Horsepower (hp)
o 1 hp= 746 W
- Can also be expressed as
F¿∨¿∆ s
Pave = =F ¿∨¿ v ¿ ¿
∆t ave

Where F ¿∨¿¿is parallel to the

displacement ∆ s
- As a scalar product
P= ⃗ F ∙ ⃗v
Example 12: Power delivered by and
elevator motor
An elevator car has a mass of 1 600 kg and
is carrying passenegers having a combined
mass of 200 kg. A constant friction force of
4000 N retards its motion upward.
a) What power delivered by the motor
is required to lift the elevator car at
a constant speed of 3.00 m/s?
b) What power must the motor deliver
at the instant the speed of the
elevator is v if the motor is designed
to provide the elevator car with an
upward acceleration of 1.00 m/s2?
Example 13: A “power climb”
As part of a charity fund raising drive, a
runner with mass 50.0 kg runs up the staors
to the top of a 443-m tall building. To lift
herself to the top in 15 minutes, what must
be her average power?