Work&Energy 1

Work and Kinetic Energy

Work
Consider an object moving while constant force 𝑭⃗ is applied. While the force is applied, the object
moves along some axis (x-axis, say) through a displacement of magnitude |∆𝑥| = s.

Notice that the direction of displacement is not the same as the direction of the force, in general. The
work done by the force 𝑭⃗ is given by:
𝑊   ≡    𝐹𝑠 ⋅ 𝑠   =    (𝐹cos 𝜃) 𝑠 (6.1)
where W = work done by the force
⃗𝑭 = constant force acting on the particle
s = magnitude of the displacement of the particle
𝐹𝑠 = component of force ⃗𝑭 that is parallel to s
𝜃 = angle between the force and displacement
Notes:
1. Work is scalar.
⃗ (or the magnitude of 𝑭
2. It is Fs that matters, not just 𝑭 ⃗ = |𝑭⃗ | = 𝐹)!!!
3. Work can be (+), (-), or zero.
a. Positive when Fs is in the same direction as Fs [i.e. 0 < 𝜃 < 90o].
b. Negative when Fs is in the opposite direction of Ds [i.e. 90o < 𝜃 < 180o].
c. Zero when Fs is perpendicular to Ds [i.e. 𝜃 = 90o].
d. Zero when |𝑭 ⃗ | or Fs is zero.
4. SI unit of work is Joule (J): 1 J = 1 Nm
5. British unit of work is foot-pound (ftlb): 1 ftlb = 1.356 J
⃗ , the work done can be written in terms of the dot product as
If the displacement vector is 𝒔
⃗ ⋅𝒔
𝑊   ≡    𝑭 ⃗ . (6.2)
When multiple constant forces are acting on an object, the total work done by the forces on the object is:
𝑊𝑡𝑜𝑡 = ∑ 𝑊𝑖 = 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡,𝑠 ∙ 𝑠 (6.3)
where 𝑊𝑡𝑜𝑡 = total work done by several constant forces
𝑊𝑖 = work done by a constant force 𝐹𝑖
s = magnitude of the displacement of the particle
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡,𝑠 = ∑ 𝐹𝑖,𝑠 = component of the net force along s
It is important to remember that whenever we talk about the work done, we must specify which force
does the work. To illustrate this, consider the following example.

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Mechanics and Materials School of Physics and Astronomy
 Work&Energy 2

A constant horizontal force of magnitude Fext = 10 N moves

a box with constant velocity across a rough surface. The
total displacement of the book is 2 m.
First, we consider the work done by the external force. The
force and the displacement are parallel to each other, so
cos 𝜃 = 1. The work done is therefore:
𝑊𝑒𝑥𝑡 = 𝐹𝑒𝑥𝑡 ∙ 𝑠 = (10 𝑚) ∙ (2 𝑚) = 20 𝑁 ∙ 𝑚 = 20 𝐽
Next, we note that the box is moved across a rough surface. This means that we should consider friction.
But what is the magnitude and direction of the friction force? Recall that the box moves with constant
velocity. This tells us that the acceleration, and hence the net force on the box, is zero. Therefore, the
magnitude of the friction force is the same as the external force, and its direction is opposite. The work
don by the friction force is then
𝑊𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = −|𝐹𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 | ∙ 𝑠 = −(10 𝑚) ∙ (2 𝑚) = − 20 𝑁 ∙ 𝑚 = − 20 𝐽
The negative sign comes from the direction of the friction force: the angle between the force and the
displacement becomes 180o and cos(180°) = −1.
Finally, we find the work don by the total force. As noted previously, the net force on the box is zero
since the box moves with constant velocity. Therefore, the work done by the net force on the box is
zero.

Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy is usually defined as the energy of “motion.” Mathematically, the kinetic energy of an
object is defined as:
𝐾 = 12𝑚𝑣2 (6.4)
where K is the object’s kinetic energy, m is its mass, and 𝑣 is its speed. Like work, kinetic energy is also a
scalar quantity. The value of an object’s kinetic energy may be positive or zero, but never negative (do
you know why?). The SI unit for kinetic energy is
𝑚 2 𝑚
[𝐾]    =   𝑘𝑔 ⋅ ( ) =    𝑘𝑔 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 𝑚   =   𝑁 ⋅ 𝑚   =   𝐽 (joules)
𝑠 ⏟ 𝑠
units of force =[𝑚][𝑎]

The units for kinetic energy are the same as the units for work.
Work-Energy Theorem (WET)
Work and kinetic energy are related by the Work-Energy Theorem. The Work-Energy Theorem states
that the work done by the net force on a single point-like object is equal to the change in kinetic energy
of that object.
𝑊𝑡𝑜𝑡 = 𝛥𝐾 = 𝐾2 − 𝐾1 = 12𝑚𝑣22 − 12𝑚𝑣22 (6.5)
where 𝑊𝑡𝑜𝑡 = total work done on a particle
𝛥𝐾 = change in kinetic energy of the particle
𝐾2 = final kinetic energy of the particle
𝐾𝑖 = initial kinetic energy of the particle
m = mass of the particle
𝑣2 = final speed of the particle
𝑣𝑖 = initial speed of the particle

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Mechanics and Materials School of Physics and Astronomy
 Work&Energy 3

Notice that this is the work done by the total force, the net force. The WET applies in the special cast
that the object is “point-like”, meaning the object can be treated like a single particle with no
deformation and no rotation. (If the object has any moving internal parts, then there is no single speed
for the object and the kinetic energy of the object is not simply 12𝑚𝑣2 ).
Notes:
1. When the Wtot is zero, the speed of the particle does not change.
2. When the Wtot is positive, the speed of the particle is increasing.
3. When the Wtot is negative, speed of the particle is decreasing.
4. The WET is valid only in inertial reference frames.
5. The WET is valid even when the total force that does the total work is not constant.
6. The WET is valid even when the path is curved (i.e. not along a straight line).

Power
Power is defined as the rate at which work is done. The average power, Pav, is defined as
𝛥𝑊
𝑃𝑎𝑣 = 𝛥𝑡
. (6.6)
In the above equation, 𝛥𝑊 is the work done during time interval 𝛥𝑡. If the rate at which work is done is
not constant, we can define instantaneous power P as
𝛥𝑊 𝑑𝑊
𝑃 = lim = . (6.7)
𝛥𝑡 → 0 𝛥𝑡 𝑑𝑡

The instantaneous power for a force doing work on a particle is also related the force that acts on the
particle and the velocity of the particle by the following dot product:
⃗ ∙ 𝒗
𝑃 = 𝑭 ⃗ . (6.8)
Notes:
1. Power is scalar.
2. SI unit is Watt (W): 1 W = 1 J/s
3. British unit is foot-pound per second (ft∙lb/s): 1 ft∙lb/s = 1.356 W
4. Another common unit is horsepower (hp): 1 hp = 746 W = 550 ft∙lb/s
5. Energy can have a unit based on “power × time”:
 kilowatthour: 1 kW∙h = 3.6 × 106 J [i.e. “energy = power × time”]

SEF005 Queen Mary University of London

Mechanics and Materials School of Physics and Astronomy