Physics Handout 7 REF #: 007

Work, Energy and Power

Work

The work, W, done by a force is defined as the product of the magnitude of the force and the distance moved in the
direction of the force. Its SI unit is the Joule (J).

Note: If work is done on a body, there is a change of energy in that body.

Questions

1. If a force of 50 N is used to pull a box along the ground a distance of 8m and the box moves in the same direction as
the force, calculate the work done by the force.

2. A force does 700 J of work in moving an object by 7 m, what is the magnitude of the force?

3. How much work is done when a mass of 3 kg is lifted vertically through 6 m?

4. A hiker climbs a hill 400 m high. If his mass is 50 kg, calculate the work he does in lifting his body to the top of the hill.

5. An elevator carries 60 people of average mass 70 kg, to a height of 5 m in one minute. How much work is done by the
elevator?

6. A boy of mass 50 kg runs up a hill of vertical height 300 m. Calculate:

a) The average vertical force he uses to lift himself up the hillside

b) The work he does climbing the hill.

7. Find the work done by a 45 N force in pulling a luggage carrier at an angle of 50 o for a distance of 75 m.

8. A box is pulled along a floor by a rope inclined at 30 o to the floor. The tension in the rope is 20N. Calculate the work
done by the force if the box moves a distance of 4 m.

9. A box of mass 2 kg is raised vertically onto a bench 1 m high. It is then pulled 1.5 m along the bench by a
horizontal force of 4 N. What is the TOTAL work done on the box [g= 10 N kg-1]

Energy

Energy is defined as the ability to do work. The SI unit for all forms of energy is the Joule (J).

The Law of Conservation of Energy.

States that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can only be converted from one form to another without
any total loss or gain.

Types of Energy

Thermal, light, magnetic, chemical, sound, mechanical, electrical

 Physics Handout 7 REF #: 007
Forward Transformation of Electrical Energy Reverse Transformation of Electrical Energy

Electrical – to From – to Electrical

Light- filament lamp, bulb Thermal- thermocouple

Heat- Electric Iron, electric stove Light- Photocell

Magnetic- electromagnet Magnetic- Commercial transformer

Chemical- copper plating an iron or aluminum Chemical- leclanche or daniell or simple cell
object
Sound- moving coil loudspeaker in reverse
Sound- loudspeaker function

Mechanical- Electric Motor Mechanical- Electric generator

Mechanical Energy

This is the energy stored in a body because it has Kinetic and or potential energy.

Potential Energy (Stored Energy)- This is the energy stored in an object by virtue of its position or state.

 Chemical Potential Energy- The energy stored in molecules

 Elastic Potential Energy- The energy stored in a stretched spring or rubber band. (catapult, sling shot,
trampolines)
 Electrical Potential Energy- The energy between charged particles or conductors. (Electric cells,
capacitors, fluorescent lamps)
 Magnetic Potential Energy- The energy between magnets- (Motors, Dynamos, Generators)
 Nuclear Potential Energy- The energy stored in atomic nuclei (Nuclear fuels, hydrogen, uranium,
plutonium)
 Gravitational Potential Energy (GPE)- This is the energy possessed by body because of its location from
some arbitrary reference point, usually the ground. It is the energy possessed by any object because of
its position in a gravitational field.

Kinetic Energy- This is the energy possessed by an object by virtue of its motion (because it is moving).

Questions (Use g= 10 ms-2 unless stated otherwise)

1. Calculate the GPE for the following scenarios:
a) A box of mass 5 kg lifted 2 m off the ground
b) A pin of mass 0.003 g raised by 5 cm off the ground
c) An object of mass 2.35 x 10-15 Mg raised a vertical distance of 500 km
d) A boy of weight 590 N climbs a hill of vertical height 2000 m
2. A girl of mass 51 kg climbs 12 m up a tree. What is her gain in GPE?
3. An owl has a mass of 4 kg. It dives to catch a mouse on the ground losing 800 J of GPE. How high was the bird to
begin with?
4. An astronaut has a total mass of 110 kg. On the moon, he climbs into his spacecraft, 5 m up a ladder. His GPE
increases by 800 J. What is the strength of gravity on the moon?
 Physics Handout 7 REF #: 007
5. A football player throws a ball. When the ball is 5 m above the ground, its GPE is 17 J. What is the mass of the ball?
6. A stone of mass 2.55 g falls from a height of 375 m to a height of 125 m. Calculate the change in GPE.
7. Calculate the KE for the following scenarios:
a) A car of mass 2200 kg travelling at a constant velocity of 15 ms -1
b) A woman of mass 56.7 kg, covering 200 m (in a straight line) in 25 s
c) An object of mass 23 Mg, travelling 350 kmh -1
d) An object of mass 3.5 x 1015 ng travelling at 45 ms-1
8. A car starts from rest and accelerates to a velocity of 150 ms -1 in 4s. Calculate the change in KE
9. An object has 25 J of KE and a mass of 34 kg, how fast is the object moving?
10. An object moving with a speed of 67 ms-1 and has KE of 500 J. What is the mass of the object?
11. A sprinter has a mass of 80 kg and a KE of 3000 J. What is the sprinter’s speed?
12. A stone weigh 3500 N and falls through a vertical distance of 45 m in 2 minutes. What is its KE?

The Interconversion of Potential and Kinetic Energy

Question
A waterfall is 30 m high.
i) What is the gravitational potential energy of 1 kg of water at the top of the waterfall?
ii) What is the kinetic energy of the water just before it reaches the bottom assuming it to be negligible at the
top?
iii) What are the kinetic and potential energies three-quarters of the way down?
iv) With what speed is the water falling three-quarters of the way down?

Power

Power is defined as the rate at which work is done or the rate at which energy is converted. The SI unit for Power is the
Watts (W).

Questions

1. Calculate the power of the following machines:

a) An electric fire which converts 1.2 MJ of electrical energy into heat in 20 mins.

b) A motor which raises a lift cage of mass 1000 kg a vertical height of 40 m in 40 s.

 Physics Handout 7 REF #: 007
2. A man can raise a bucket of cement mix of mass 12 kg through a vertical height of 8 m in 10 s. Calculate the power
used in raising the bucket against the gravitational force.

3. At the Dinorwig reservoirs in North Wales an electric pump can raise water froiim the low level reservoir to the high
level reservoir at a rate of 200 million kilograms per hour. If the vertical height the water is raised between the
reservoirs is 530 m, calculate the power of the pump. G=10N/kg.

4. A bullet of mass 10 g enters a target at 100 m/s and leaves it 0.01 s later at 40 m/s. Calculate:

i) The rate of change of momentum of the bullet.

ii) The resistance offered by the target.

iii) The loss of kinetic energy of the bullet.

iv) The deceleration of the bullet.

v) The distance travelled by the bullet in passing through the target.

5. A rectangular solid of unknown density is 5 meters long, 2 meters high, and 4 meters wide. The mass of this solid is
300 grams. Given this information for this homogeneous material, calculate the density.

6. A uniform lath AB of length 80 cm and a mass of 50 g is pivoted at a point P, 25 cm from one end. It is kept horizontal
by supporting it at the other end by a vertical string. Calculate the tension in the string and the reaction at the pivot.

7. A motor-bike under test accelerates uniformly from rest and moves in a straight line. In three seconds it reaches a
speed of 40 ms-1. It then travels at this speed for 10 seconds, and then brakes to stop in a further 2 seconds.

i. Draw a speed-time graph to represent the motion of the motor-bike.

ii. Calculate the total distance the bike travels over the period of the trial.
iii. Calculate the average speed of the bike over the period of the trial
iv. If the bike were to accelerate for a period and, straight after this, begin to brake In such a way that it braked
over the same period it accelerated, what would be the acceleration? Assume the test distance and the
duration are the same as in the first case.

8. To make a course correction, a spaceship fires 5 kg of fuel out of its rocket engines as hot gases moving at 10 000 m/s.
If the mass of the spaceship is 20 000 kg, calculate its change in velocity.

9. A body of mass 4 kg is moving initially at 10 m/s. An accelerating force is applied to the body such that after a time of
4 seconds, it velocity is 30 m/s. Calculate:
i. The change in velocity of the body. iii. The distance travelled during the 4 s.
ii. The acceleration of the body. iv. The work done by the accelerating force.
10. A boy of mass 60 kg jumps from a wall and lands on the ground at a speed of 5 m/s.

i. What is the momentum of the boy just before landing?

ii. What is the change in momentum of the boy on landing?
iii. What is the rate of change of momentum if the boy takes 1.5 s to land?
iv. By considering your answer to (iii) explain why a pole vaulter uses a thick mattress as a landing surface.
11. State with a brief explanation, whether it is possible, given forces of 3 N and 8 N, to produce a resultant
force of:
v. i) 5 N ii) 15 N iii) 8 N