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2850 Level 2 in Engineering Unit 202 Handout 14

Unit 202: Principles of Engineering Technology

Handout 14: Work, Power and Energy

Tasks
1. Define work done in terms of force and distance moved
2. Explain what is meant by energy
3. State the units for work, power and energy
4. Define power in terms of voltage and current
5. Perform calculations for the above

Work is when a force is exerted to move an object over a distance.

The unit for force is the newton (N)
The unit for distance is the metre (m)
Work done = force x distance (Fd)
The unit for work done is the Joule (J), and 1 Nm = 1 J

Example 1
You are pushing a very heavy stone block (200 kg) across the floor. You are exerting
620 N of force on the stone, and push it a total distance of 20 m before you get tired
and stop.
How much work did you just do?
WD = 620 N x 20 m = 12 400 Nm
And 1 Nm = 1 J
So we did 12 400 J of work
Therefore: WD = 620 N x 20 m = 12 400 J or 12.4 kJ

Gravity
When we were pushing something along the ground, the work done did not depend
on the mass.
When lifting up something the work does depend on mass, because of gravity.
Gravity always pulls down with a force equal to mg, where m is the mass, and g =
10 m/s2 (acceleration due to gravity, 9.81 m/s2 to be precise).
So we must exert at least that much force to lift something.
The more mass something has, the more work required to lift it.
So, work = force of gravity x distance
= (mass x acceleration of gravity) x distance
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2850 Level 2 in Engineering Unit 202 Handout 14

Example 2
A weightlifter lifts a barbell with a mass of 280 kg a total of 2 metres off the floor.
What is the minimum amount of work the weightlifter did?
The barbell is ‘pulled’ down by gravity with a force of 280 kg x 10 m/s2 = 2800 N.
So the weightlifter must exert at least 2800 N of force to lift the barbell at all.
If that minimum force is used, the work done will be:
WD = 2 800 N x 2 m = 5600 J or 5.6 kJ

Power is the rate of doing work.

Power = Work Done (J) / Time Spent Working (s)
work done
Therefore Power =
time
The unit of power is the watt (W).


Example 3
It takes us 40 seconds to move that 200 kg block the 20 m.
From our work done example we know that we did 12 400 J of work on the stone
block to move it.
From that we can determine the power…
work done
Power =
time
12 400
Power =
40

Power = 310 W


You do not have to determine the work done first when determining the power…

Example 4
What is the power used when it takes 50 seconds for a force of 300 N to move an
object through a distance of 45 m?
force x distance
Power =
time
300 x 45
Power =
50

13500
Power =
50

Power = 270 W


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2850 Level 2 in Engineering Unit 202 Handout 14

Energy is the capacity to do work.

Energy is determined by multiplying the work done by the time taken.
Energy = work done (J) x time (s)
Therefore: energy = work done (WD) x time (t)
And since work done = force x distance (Fd)
Energy = WD x t or Fxdxt
The unit for energy is the same as for work, ie: the unit of energy is the Joule (J).

Example 5
For the 200 kg stone block, the force exerted to move it 20 m was 640 N. If this took
40 seconds to complete, then the energy used would be…
Energy = F x d x t
= 640 x 20 x 40
= 512 000 J
= 512 kJ

Electrical power and energy

Power (watt) is determined by the formula:
Power = Voltage (V) x Current (I)

Example 6
A welding machine uses 25 volts to maintain the arc and is set to 100 amps.
Power = V x I
Power = 25 V x 100 A
Power = 2 500 W or 2.5 kW

Energy is power x time

Therefore for a one minute welding time:
Energy = 2 500 W x 60 s
= 150 000 J or 150 kJ