Objective/s:

• Compute the work done by a force (constant or variable) acting on a

system
• Interpret the work done by a force based on a force-displacement
curve
Work
Work as a Dot Product
• Work is defined as the dot product of Force F and displacement d in
the direction of the force.
• The cosine of an angle has a maximum value of 1; cosine of 0 is equal
to 1. Thus, a maximum work is done by a force when is 0; that is, it
has the same direction with the displacement.

F
d
• When is 90°, no work is done since cosine of 90° is 0.

d
F
• Another situation arises when is greater
than 90°. The computed work, in this
case, will be negative because the cosine
of an angle between 90° and 180° is
negative. A negative work means that
the force is acting in a direction opposite
that of motion. In other words, the force
retards the motion. Work done by a
friction and by the pull of gravity when d
one is going upstairs are examples of F
negative work.
• Work is a scalar quantity; that is, there is no direction associated with
work. The SI unit of work is the newton-meter (N m), also called the
joule (J) in honor of James Prescott Joule. One joule is the amount of
work done by a force of 1 N in moving a body through a distance of 1
m.
• A smaller unit of work is the erg. One erg is the amount of work done
by 1 dyne of force through a distance of 1 cm.
Sample Problem
• A 25 N block is being pushed up
on a plane inclined at an angle
of 30° with the horizontal by a
46 N force F applied parallel to
the plane. The block moves 3.0
m up the inclined plane. How
much work is done on the block
by (a) gravitational force, (b)
force F, (c) friction force, and (d)
normal force. The coefficient of
kinetic friction is 0.2.
Answer/s:
• A. -38 J
• B. 140 J
• C. -13 J
• D. 0
Work done by a Variable Force
• So far, we have assumed that the force that does the work is constant.
But this assumption rarely applies to real-life situations. Most often
than not, the force is varying. The total amount of work done by a
varying force may be solved graphically or analytically by calculus.
Given a graph of force versus displacement along the direction of
force, the work done is the area bounded by the graph and the x-axis.
Sample Problem
• The accompanying graph shows the force F acting on a body versus its
displacement x along the force. How much work is done by the force?
Answer/s:
• 150 J
• To be continued…