AP Physics 1

Work, Energy and Power Class Notes and Examples

WORK is…

In order for work to be done, three things are necessary:

1.

2.

3.

Read the following statements and determine whether or not they represent examples of work.

A teacher applies a force to a wall and becomes exhausted.

A book falls off a table and free falls to the ground.

Your dad is carrying groceries to the car.

A truck carries a box in it’s bed 100 m.

If you push an object twice as far while applying the same force do you do (a) twice as much work (b) 4 times
as much work, or (c) the same amount of work?

If you push an object the same distance but apply twice force do you do (a) do twice as much work (b) 4 times
as much work, or (c) the same amount of work?

Work can be Negative or Positive

Positive Work: Example: If F = 40 N and x = 4 m, then

Negative Work: Example: If f = -10 N and x = 4 m, then

 Ex 1: 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...

a) By the horizontal force?

b) By the table?

c) By gravity?

Ex 2: A 100-N horizontal force is used to drag a 20kg box 2.0-m across a rough surface at a constant velocity. How much work is
done by friction?

Ex 3: A 100-N is applied at 60° above the horizontal, and used to drag the 20-kg box 2.0-m
across a frictionless surface. How much work is done by the applied force?

Ex 4: A 100-N is applied at 60° above the horizontal, and used to drag the 20-kg box 2.0-m across a rough surface (μ = 0.15). How
much work is done by the friction force?

Ex 5: 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?
 FORCE-DISPLACEMENT GRAPHSThe area under the
curve is equal to the work done.

EX 6 Determine the work done by the force as the object

moves from x = 0 m to x = 20 m.

WORK ON AN INCLINE
EX 7 A 20kg block slides down a 30° incline at a constant velocity. Calculate the following, as the block slides
a distance of 2.1m down the incline.
a. Work done by gravity.
b. Work done by the normal force.
c. Work done by friction.
d. Net work done on the block.

ENERGY is…

KINETIC ENERGY: K , energy possessed by a body by virtue of its motion. an object in motion can do
work on another object it strikes. an object in motion can do work on
another object it strikes.
WORK ENERGY PRINCIPLE the net work done on an object is _____________________________________________

Only valid when using the net work done on the object (the work done
by all forces acting on the object)

If the net work is positive, the kinetic energy increases.

If the net work is negative, the kinetic energy decreases.

Deriving the equation for the WORK-ENERGY PRINCIPLE: using newton’s second law formula and the formula
for work, determine the connection between work and kinetic energy.

Ex 8 What average force F is necessary to stop a 16 g bullet traveling at 260 m/s as it penetrates into wood at
a distance of 12 cm?

Ex. 9 A 1200kg car is traveling at 18m/s when it applies its brakes. If the brakes allow friction to exert a 2000N
force on the car, and the brakes are applied for 50m, how fast is the car moving when the brakes are released?

Ex. 10 A 2-kg object is being pushed by a horizontal force F along a horizontal frictionless air-table. The
object starts from rest at x = 0 and the force F acting on it changes according to the force F v.s. position x
graph to the right. a) Find the work done by the force F on the object as the object moves from x=0 to x=9m.
b) Find the speed of the object at x = 9 m.
POTENTIAL ENERGY: U, energy possessed by a system by virtue of position or condition.
Gravitational Potential Energy

EX. 11 : A 5 kg box is lifted to a height of 6.0m.

a) What is the work done to lift the box?

b) What is the potential energy of the rock at 6.0m?

Elastic Potential energy can also be stored in a spring when it is compressed; the figure below shows potential
energy yielding kinetic energy.

Hooke's Law describes the force needed to stretch

an elastic object. This is primarily in reference to
SPRINGS.

X
Ex. 12 A load of 50 N attached to a spring hanging vertically stretches the spring 5.0 cm. The spring is now
placed horizontally on a table and stretched 11.0 cm. What force is required to stretch the spring this amount?

CONSERVATIVE VS NON CONSERVATIVE FORCES

CONSERVATIVE NON CONSERVATIVE

CONSERVATIVE The work done by a NON-CONSERVATIVE The work done by a

conservative force depends only on the initial nonconservative forces depend on the path
and final position of the object acted upon. taken, energy is lost to other forms during the
An example of a conservative force is gravity. The process – mainly heat.
work done equals the change in potential energy In a non-conservative system:
and depends only on the initial and final
positions above the ground and NOT on the path
taken.
In a conservative system:

THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY The law of conservation of energy states that:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Energy can be transformed from one kind to another, but the total amount remains
constant. If only conservative forces (like gravity, not friction or air resistance) are acting
, the total mechanical energy of a system neither increases nor decreases in any process.
It stays constant – it is conserved.
Ex. 13 Roller-coaster car speed using energy conservation. Assuming the height of the hill is 40 m, and the
roller-coaster car starts from rest at the top, calculate (a) the speed of the roller-coaster car at the bottom of
the hill, and (b) at what height it will have half this speed. Assume y = 0 at the bottom of the hill.

Ex. 14

POINT 1 POINT 2 POINT 3 POINT 4

ENERGY CONSERVATION WITH PES
Ex. 15 Toy dart gun. A dart of mass 0.100 kg is pressed against the spring of a toy
dart gun. The spring, with spring stiffness constant of 250 N/m and ignorable mass,
is compressed 6.0 cm and released. If the dart detaches from the spring when the
spring reaches its natural length what speed does the dart acquire?

Ex. 16 Two kinds of potential energy. A ball of mass m = 2.60 kg, starting from rest, falls a vertical distance
h = 55.0 cm before striking a vertical coiled spring, which it compresses an amount Y= 15.0 cm. Determine the
spring stiffness constant k of the spring. Assume the spring has negligible mass, and ignore air resistance.
Measure all distances from the point where the ball first touches the uncompressed spring (y=0 at this point)

ENERGY CONSERVATION WITH DISSIPATIVE FORCES

For mechanical systems involving non-conservative forces, the total mechanical energy equals the
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
of the objects that make up the system.
The work done by an external force (air resistance, friction, external push)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example: Work done by Friction causes a loss – energy is converted to heat
Ex. 17 Friction on the roller-coaster car. The roller-coaster car reaches a vertical height of only 25 m on the
second hill, where it slows to a momentary stop. It traveled a total distance of 400 m. Determine the thermal
energy produced and estimate the average friction force (assume it is roughly constant) on the car, whose
mass is 1000 kg.

Ex. 18 A child of mass m slides down a 6.00-m high slide, starting from rest.
a) Find v f assuming no friction

b) Find how much energy is lost to friction if v f=8.00 m/s and m = 20.0 kg

c) Find the coefficient of kinetic friction in part (b) if the slide angle is 30° above the horizontal.

POWER is the rate at which work is done –

Ex. 19 A 0.25 hp motor is used to lift a load at the rate of 5 cm/s. How great a load can it lift at this constant
speed? (1 hp = 746 W)
Ex. 20 Power needs of a car Calculate the power required of a
1400-kg car under the following circumstances: (a) the car climbs
a 10° hill (a fairly steep hill) at a steady 80 km/ h; and (b) the car
accelerates along a level road from 90 to 110 km/h in 6.0 s to
pass another car. Assume the average retarding force on the car
is FR = 700 N throughout.

Ex. 21 An advertisement claims that a certain 1200-kg car can accelerate from rest to a speed of 25 m/s in a
time of 8.0 s. What power must the motor produce to cause this acceleration?