Name: _________________
Period: ______
Work, Power and Energy Worksheet
1. Which of the following statements are true about work? Include all that apply.
a. Work is the transfer of energy into or out of a system by means of an external force.
b. A Watt is the standard metric unit of work.
c. Units of work would be equivalent to a Newton times a meter.
d. Work is a time-based quantity; it is dependent upon how fast a force displaces an
object.
e. A force is applied by a chain to a roller coaster car to carry it up the hill of the first drop
of the Shockwave ride. This is an example of work being done.
f. An individual force does NOT do work upon an object if the object is moving at constant
speed.
g. The force of friction acts upon a softball player as she makes a headfirst dive into third
base. This is an example of work being done.
2. Which of the following statements are true about power?
a. Power is a time-based quantity.
b. Power refers to how fast work is transferred into or out of a system.
c. Powerful people or powerful machines are simply people or machines which always do
a lot of work.
Name: _________________
Period: ______
d. A force is exerted on an object to move it at a constant speed. The power delivered by
this force is the magnitude of the force multiplied by the speed of the object.
e. The standard metric unit of power is the Watt.
f. If person A and person B do the same job but person B does it faster, then person A
does more work but person B has more power.
g. The Newton•meter is a unit of power.
h. A 60 kg boy runs up a 2.0-meter staircase in 1.5 seconds. His power is approximately 80
Watt.
i. A 300 N force is applied to a skier to drag her up a ski hill at a constant speed of 1.5
m/s. The power delivered by the toe rope is 450 Watts.
3. Which of the following statements are true about kinetic energy?
a. Kinetic energy is the energy storage mechanism that depends upon the position of an
object.
b. If an object is at rest, then it does not have any kinetic energy.
c. The kinetic energy of an object is dependent upon the mass and the speed of an object.
d. Faster moving objects always have a greater kinetic energy.
e. More massive objects always have a greater kinetic energy.
f. Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity.
g. An object has a kinetic energy of 40 J. If its mass were twice as much, then its kinetic
energy would be 80 J.
Name: _________________
Period: ______
h. An object has a kinetic energy of 40 J. If its speed were twice as much, then its kinetic
energy would be 80 J.
i. Object A has a mass of 1 kg and a speed of 2 m/s. Object B has a mass of 2 kg and a
speed of 1 m/s. Objects A and B have the same kinetic energy.
j. A falling object always gains kinetic energy as it falls.
4. Which of the following statements are true about gravitational potential energy?
a. Moving objects cannot have gravitational potential energy.
b. Gravitational potential energy is the energy stored due to an object’s position in a
gravitational field.
c. Gravitational potential energy is dependent upon the mass of an object.
d. If the mass of an elevated object is doubled, then its gravitational potential energy will
be doubled as well.
e. Gravitational potential energy is decreased as objects free-fall to the ground.
f. The higher that an object is, the more gravitational potential energy it will have.
g. The unit of measurement for gravitational potential energy is the Joule.
h. A 1 kg mass at a height of 1 meter has a potential energy of 1 Joule.
i. A 1 kg object falls from a height of 10 m to a height of 6 m. The final potential energy of
the object is approximately 40 J.
Name: _________________
Period: ______
5. Rank these four objects in increasing order of kinetic energy, beginning with the
smallest.
Object A Object B Object C Object D
m = 5.0 kg m = 10.0 kg m = 1.0 kg m = 5.0 kg
v = 4m/s v = 2.0 m/s v = 5.0 m/s v = 2.0 m/s
6. Rank these four objects in increasing order of gravitational potential energy, beginning
with the smallest.
Object A Object B Object C Object D
m = 5.0 kg m = 10.0 kg m = 1.0 kg m = 5.0 kg
h = 2.0 m h = 3.0 m h = 5.0 m h = 4.0 m
7. A moving object has
A. kinetic energy
B. potential energy
C. both kinetic and potential energy
D. neither kind of energy
8. The energy stored inside a battery is
A. kinetic energy
B. potential energy
C. both kinetic and potential energy
D. neither kind of energy
Name: _________________
Period: ______
9. In the picture below, in which position does the ball have the greatest potential energy?
A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4
10. The purpose of a nuclear power plant is to transform nuclear energy into electricity.
This is done in steps starting with a nuclear reaction which generates heat to produce
steam. The steam in turn is used to turn a generator which finally produces electricity.
Which answer best illustrates these energy transformation?
A. nuclear → mechanical → chemical → electrical
B. thermal → nuclear → mechanical → electrical
C. mechanical → thermal → nuclear →electrical
D. nuclear → thermal → mechanical → electrical
11. What energy transformation(s) take(s) place when you strike and light a match?
A. chemical to nuclear energy
B. mechanical to thermal energy
C. chemical to thermal and electromagnetic energy
D. electromagnetic to potential energy
12. PHOTOSYNTHESIS transforms electromagnetic energy from the Sun into
A. mechanical energy
B. thermal energy
C. chemical energy
D. electrical energy
13. Answering your cell phone transforms the chemical energy in its battery into
A. electromagnetic (light) energy
B. electrical energy
C. sound energy
D. all the above
Name: _________________
Period: ______
14. Which of the pictures below illustrates the transformation of electrical to thermal
energy?
15. Give an example where the following energy changes would take place:
a. Electrical to Thermal
b. Chemical to Thermal
c. Electrical to Mechanical
d. Electrical to Sound
e. Thermal to Light
16. Name three non-renewable energy sources and four renewable energy sources.
