General Physics 1A

GNP501S
Lecturer: M. Zivuku
Office: 3.90
Email: mzivuku@nust.na
Work, Energy, Power and The law of conservation of
energy
• Work is the same as energy. Energy is the ability to do work.
• Work done = Force x distance moved in the direction of force
• Hence, Work = Force x displacement

• Mechanical energy:
• There are two forms of mechanical energy, namely; potential energy (PE) and kinetic
energy (KE).
• PE – This is the energy possessed by a body due to its position.
• PE is possessed by a by a body due to height and the ground is taken as a the reference
point.
• For the body of mass m at a height h above the ground, PE = Force x distance = mgh
 Work, Energy, Power and The law of conservation
of energy
• KE – This is the energy possessed by a body with respect to its motion.

• The body of mass m with an initial velocity u acquires a final velocity v after
a time t, covering a distance s.

1
• Initial KE = 𝑚𝑢2
2

1
• Final KE = 𝑚𝑣 2
2

1 1
• Change in KE = ∆𝐾𝐸 = 𝑚𝑣 2 − 𝑚𝑢2
2 2
Work, Energy, Power and The law of conservation of energy
1
• Proof for the formula; 𝑚𝑢2
2
• Using 𝒗𝟐 = 𝒖𝟐 + 𝟐𝒂𝒔 and referring to a body coming to rest. Then v = 0
and a is negative. Hence,
1 2
• 𝑎𝑠 = 𝑢 , multiplying both sides by mass, m
2
1
• 𝑚𝑎𝑠 = 𝑚𝑢2 = 𝐾𝐸
2
• Work done is equal to change in kinetic energy; using 𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑎𝑠
𝟏
• We get, 𝒂𝒔 = (𝒗𝟐 − 𝒖𝟐 ), multiplying both sides by mass, m, gives
𝟐
𝟏 𝟐 𝟐
• 𝒎𝒂𝒔 = 𝒎(𝒗 − 𝒖 ) and this shows that work done is equal to the
𝟐
change in kinetic energy
𝟏
• Work done, Fs = change in KE = 𝒎(𝒗𝟐 − 𝒖𝟐 )
𝟐
Work, Energy, Power and The law of conservation of energy
• Example: 1. A girl of mass 25 kg is running with a speed of 2m/s. What is her
kinetic energy?
2. A bullet of mass 25 g is moving with a speed of 218 km/h. Calculate its KE.

• Power
• Defn: Power is defined as the rate of doing work or the rate of transfer of
energy.
𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑
• Average Power (P) = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛
𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑
𝑾 𝑭𝐱𝒔
•𝑷= = =𝑭𝐱𝒗
𝒕 𝒕
 Power Cont’d
• Example

• Calculate the power of a pump which lifts 50 kg of water through a vertical

height of 4 metres in 5 seconds (g = 9.8 m/s/s).

• Work done = Force x distance covered

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑥 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
• Power = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝑚𝑔 𝑥𝑠
• P=
𝑡

50𝑘𝑔 𝑥 9.8𝑚𝑠 −2 𝑥 4𝑚
• P= = 392𝑁
5
 Law of conservation of momentum
• The law of momentum conservation can be stated as follows:

• For a collision occurring between object 1 and object 2 in an isolated system,

the total momentum of the two objects before the collision is equal to the
total momentum of the two objects after the collision.

• Let 𝑢1 𝑢2 , and 𝑣1 , 𝑣2 be the initial and final velocities of the two colliding
bodies of masses 𝑚1 and 𝑚2 .

• The law of conservation of momentum can be such that;

• 𝒎𝟏 𝒖𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒖𝟐 = 𝒎𝟏 𝒗𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒗𝟐
 Law of conservation of momentum Cont’d
• The argument applies to bodies which are elastic and rebound from each other
after collision with different velocities.

• It also applies to bodies which are inelastic and join together after collision and
move away with the velocity, 𝒗𝟏 = 𝒗𝟐 = 𝒗.

• Therefore, 𝒎𝟏 𝒗𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒗𝟐 = 𝒎𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒗

• Example: 1. A body of mass 4 kg moving with a velocity of 10 m/s collide with a

stationary body of mass 5 kg. If the two bodies move together after collision,
determine the common velocity.
 Law of conservation of momentum Cont’d
• Elastic and Inelastic Collision
• Elastic collision: In an elastic collision both momentum and kinetic energy are
conserved..

• This means that for two colliding bodies with 𝑚1 and 𝑚2 and initial velocities
𝑢1 and 𝑢2 and final velocities 𝑣1 and 𝑣2 after collision;

• 𝒎𝟏 𝒖𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒖𝟐 = 𝒎𝟏 𝒗𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒗𝟐 (momentum is conserved)
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
• 𝒎𝟏 𝒖𝟐𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒖𝟐𝟐 = 𝒎𝟏 𝒗𝟐𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒗𝟐𝟐 (Kinetic energy is conserved)
𝟐 𝟐 𝟐 𝟐

• An example of perfectly elastic collision is a ball which bounces off the

ground and back to its original height.
Law of conservation of momentum Cont’d
• Momentum and its connection to force

• A body that is moving along a constant velocity does not need force to
keep it moving.

• It requires a force to have started its motion and need a force to stop its
motion again .

• In practice, we find that friction (or air resistance) is the force that halts the
movement.

• A force is needed to change the movement of an object.

• We therefore derive from Newton’s Laws.

 Law of conservation of momentum Cont’d
• Inelastic Collision: In this case, momentum is conserved but not kinetic
energy.

• The kinetic energy usually decreases as it is converted into heat, sound or

elastic potential energy and in this case causes deformation.

• In a complete inelastic collision, the two bodies join together after an impact
and move with the same velocity.

• So the conservation of momentum becomes;

• 𝒎𝟏 𝒗 𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒗 𝟐 = 𝒎𝟏 + 𝒎𝟐 𝒗
 Law of conservation of momentum Cont’d
• The kinetic energy of the system before collision is;
1 1
• 𝐾𝐸1 = 𝑚1 𝑢12 + 𝑚2 𝑢22
2 2

• The final kinetic energy is;

1
• 𝐾𝐸2 = (𝑚1 + 𝑚2 )𝑣 2
2

• If we consider a special case where 𝑚2 is at rest, then

1
• 𝐾𝐸1 = 𝑚1 𝑣 2
2
1
• 𝐾𝐸2 = (𝑚1 + 𝑚2 )𝑣 2
2
𝐾𝐸1 𝑚1
• Then, =
𝐾𝐸2 𝑚1 +𝑚2
Law of conservation of momentum Cont’d
• This show that the final kinetic energy 𝐾𝐸2 of the body is less than

the initial kinetic energy 𝐾𝐸1 .

• This statement in general is also true if 𝑢2 is not zero.