Biophysics

Chapter 6:
WORK AND ENERGY

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Week 1/Lecture 2
Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY

 Chapter Topics:

6.1 Work
6.2 Kinetic Energy
6.3 Potential Energy and Conservative
6.4 Forces
6.9 Power

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
Chapter 6.1 : WORK
 The work done by a constant force 𝐹⃗ is defined as the product of the force component and the
displacement 𝑑⃗

 For an angle Φ between the force and the displacement:

𝑊 𝐹⃗ · 𝑑⃗
Or
𝑊 𝐹𝑑𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝒅

 Work has the SI unit of joules (J), the same as energy

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
Chapter 6.1 : WORK

 Work can be positive, negative, or zero as illustrated in the figure below

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
Chapter 6.1 : WORK
Example 6.1: A 600 𝑁 force is applied by a man to a dresser that moves 2 𝑚. Find the work done if the
force and displacement are:
(a) parallel
(b) at right angles
(c) oppositely directed; we may imagine that the dresser is being slowed and brought to rest.

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
Chapter 6.1 : WORK
Example 6.2: Figure 7‐4a shows two industrial spies sliding an initially stationary 225 kg floor safe a displacement
𝑑⃗ of magnitude 8.50 m. The push 𝐹⃗ of spy 001 is 12.0 N at an angle of 30.0° downward from the horizontal; the
pull 𝐹⃗ of spy 002 is 10.0 N at 40.0° above the horizontal. The magnitudes and directions of these forces do not
change as the safe moves, and the floor and safe make frictionless contact. (a) What is the net work done on the
safe by forces 𝐹⃗ and 𝐹⃗ during the displacement 𝑑⃗? (b) During the displacement, what is the work 𝑊 done on the
safe by the gravitational force 𝐹⃗ and what is the work 𝑊 done on the safe by the normal force 𝐹⃗ from the floor?

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
6.2 Kinetic Energy
 Kinetic Energy: is the energy associated with motion
o The faster an object moves, the greater its kinetic energy
o Kinetic energy is zero for a stationary object
 For an object with v well below the speed of light:
𝟏
𝑲 𝒎𝒗𝟐
𝟐
 The unit of kinetic energy is a joule (J)

 The work‐energy principle

 The change in the kinetic energy of an object (final kinetic energy minus the initial kinetic energy) is equal to the
total work (W) done on it by all the acting forces.

𝑾 ∆𝑲

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
6.2 Kinetic Energy
Example 6.3: A woman pushes a car, initially at rest, toward a child by exerting a constant horizontal force 𝐹 of
magnitude of 5 𝑁 through a distance of 1 𝑚 (figure 7). (a) How much work is done on the car? (b) What is its
final kinetic energy? (c) If the car has a mass of 0.1 𝑘𝑔 what is its final speed? ( Assume no work is done by
frictional forces)

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
6.3 Potential energy
Potential energy is the energy associated with the position or the configuration of a mechanical system.
• In the figure below the work done by the gravitational force of an object of mass 𝑚 raised from an initial
height ℎ𝑜to a height ℎ is : 𝑊𝑔 𝑚𝑔ℎ𝑜 𝑚𝑔ℎ

• The quantity 𝑚𝑔ℎ is defined as potential energy: 𝑈 𝑚𝑔ℎ +𝑈𝑟𝑒𝑓

• 𝑈𝑟𝑒𝑓 is the potential energy of reference. For simplicity we can write:

𝑼 𝒎𝒈𝒉

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
6.4 Total Energy
• The total work can be equal to the sum of the work done by the applied forces 𝑊𝑎 and the work done by
the gravitational force 𝑊𝑔

• By the work‐energy theorem: 𝐾 = 𝐾𝑜 + 𝑊𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝐾𝑜 + 𝑊𝑎 + 𝑊𝑔

• As 𝑊𝑔 = − 𝑈 − 𝑈𝑜
• Then 𝐾 = 𝐾𝑜 − 𝑈 − 𝑈𝑜 + 𝑊𝑎
• The last equation can be written as : 𝐾 + 𝑈 = 𝐾𝑜 + 𝑈𝑜 + 𝑊𝑎 (a)

• The sum of kinetic energy and the potential energy is the total mechanical energy : 𝐸 = 𝐾 + 𝑈

• Equation (a) becomes : 𝐸 = 𝐸𝑜 + 𝑊𝑎 or:

∆𝐸 𝐸 𝐸𝑜 𝑊𝑎

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
6.4 Total Energy
• If the work done by the applied forces is zero 𝑊𝑎 0 and only the gravitational force is doing work, the
mechanical energy is constant or conserved:

∆𝐸 0 or 𝐾𝑜 𝑈𝑜 𝐾 𝑈

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
6.4 Total Energy
Example 6.4 The huge advantage of using the conservation of energy instead of Newton’s laws of motion is that we
can jump from the initial state to the final state without considering all the intermediate motion. Here is an example.
In the Figure, a child of mass m is released from rest at the top of a water slide, at height h = 8.5 m above the
bottom of the slide. Assuming that the slide is frictionless because of the water on it, find the child’s speed at the
bottom of the slide

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
6.4 Total Energy
Example 6.5 In the Figure, a single frictionless roller-coaster car of mass m= 825 kg tops the first hill with speed
v =17.0 m/s at height h = 42.0 m., what is the speed of the car at (a) point A,(b) point B, and (c) point C?
0

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Chapter 6 : WORK AND ENERGY
6.9 Power
• When a system develops work W during a period of time ∆𝑡, the average power is defined by :
𝑊
𝑃
Δ𝑡
• The power is expressed in joule per second in the SI system, which is called Watt Electrical energy is sold by
kilowatt hour (𝒌𝑾 𝒉).

𝟏𝒌𝑾𝒉 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒕 × 𝟑𝟔𝟎𝟎𝒔 = 𝟑. 𝟔 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝑱

Example 6.14: A 70−𝑘𝑔 man runs up a flight of stairs 3𝑚 high in 2𝑠. (a) How much work does he do against
gravitational forces? (b) what is his average power output?

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