Work, Energy, Power

• As we have already mentioned

Work done = (force) x (distance moved in the
direction of the force)
• Work is said to be done on the body responsible
for the resisting force by the force which
overcomes that resistance.
E.g. A man pushing a truck against the forces resisting
its motion does work on the truck, providing he
moves it in the direction of his applied force.
A man trying to stop a truck moving towards him by
pushing against it has work done on him by the truck.
 Work
• Work is the transfer of energy.
• In mechanics we say that work is done on an
object when you transfer energy to that object
• As work is the transfer of energy, then the unit
of work is also the Joule (J)
 Work
• In almost all cases considered when studying
mechanical forms of energy, when work is
done on an object a force is applied to the
object.
• The object is displaced while this force is
acting upon it, that is, the object moves as a
result of a force being placed on it.
 Example on work
1. A man rolls a barrel having a mass of 100 kg
up an incline of 10° to the horizontal. Find the
work done in rolling the barrel 30 m up the
slope, neglecting any forces opposing the
motion other than on the mass of the barrel.
2. If in the example above an additional force of
250 N acts down the incline to oppose the
movement of the barrel, what would then be
the total work done? Ans: 5.11 kJ, 12.61 kJ
 Energy
• Energy is defined as the capacity to do work
• In physics, energy is a quantity that is often
understood as the ability a physical system has to do
work on other physical systems
• The unit of Energy is the Joule (J)
• Energy can have many different forms, such as
mechanical, chemical, electrical, heat and mass.
• Energy may be converted from one of its forms into
another form but it cannot be created nor destroyed
 Types of Energy
• Energy can be found in a range of different formats shown
below:
• Potential Energy – energy due to height (mechanical)
• Kinetic Energy – energy due to motion (mechanical)
• Thermal energy – stored heat
• Chemical energy – eg food
• Electrical
• Electrochemical – eg battery
• Electromagnetic – energy from sun
• Sound
 Types of Energy contd
• Mass – Release of Nuclear Energy is brought
about by the transformation of mass into
energy.
 Potential Energy
• Take a body of mass m lying at ground level.
• This mass m is picked up and placed at a height h
from the ground.
• An upward force of mg has been exerted on the
mass.
• The amount of work done on the mass = Force x
distance (Nm or Joules) = mgh
• This work is ‘stored’ in the weight by virtue of its
new position ie ht above the ground
 Potential Energy
• As this ‘Work’ is the amount of energy
transferred to the mass during the lifting
process:
• The mass is said to posess a
Potential Energy = mgh
 Strain Energy
• Strain energy is, in a sense another form of
potential energy.
• If a spring is stretched within its elastic limit,
the work done in stretching the spring is stored
as strain energy in the material of the spring.
• This energy is capable of doing work if the
spring is released and is allowed to return to its
original unstressed state.
 Kinetic Energy
• A body in motion is said to possess KINETIC
ENERGY by virtue of its mass and its speed of
movement.
• This energy can be made available to do work if
the moving body is brought to rest or is slowed
down.
• An express train at high speeds possesses
considerable kinetic energy – this is evident when
the train is brought to a sudden stop in a collision.
 Kinetic Energy
• The kinetic energy is released very quickly on
collision, and work may be done in distorting the
material of whatever it is that the train has struck.
• Eventually the energy is converted to heat energy in
this case or into the energy of a sound wave.
• Particles of water in a moving jet possess kinetic
energy, this is available to do work in turning the
blades of a water turbine which is struck by the jet.
 Kinetic Energy
• The potential energy of water behind a dam is
first largely converted to the kinetic energy of
a moving stream of water.
• As this stream of water strikes the blades of a
water turbine it is turned into the kinetic
energy of rotation of the turbine wheel.
• This in turn is converted to electrical energy in
the electrical generator.
 Kinetic Energy
• Consider a body initially at rest, and
accelerates at a rate ‘a’ to a final speed ‘v’
over a distance ‘s’ in ‘t’ seconds.
• a= = as u = 0
• S = avg. velocity x time = x t = x t as u =
0
• F= ma = m from above
 Kinetic Energy
• Work = Force x distance
• Work = m x x t
• Work = ½ mv2
• This is called the Kinetic Energy of the body
• Kinetic Energy = ½ mv2
 Action of a flywheel
• A flywheel is a fairly heavy wheel fitted to a shaft in
order to minimize rapid variations in its speed of
rotation.
• The flywheel acts as a store of energy in the form of
its kinetic energy of rotation.
• If the load on a shaft fluctuates, the speed of the shaft
will tend to vary.
• If the speed tends to fall because of an increase in
load, the kinetic energy of the flywheel will tend to
decrease with the speed.
 Action of a flywheel
• The stored energy in the flywheel associated
with this speed change is then made available
to do work on the load, and thus assist the
motor driving the load.
• The resulting fall in speed is then less than it
would have been if the driving motor had had
to drive alone against the increased load.
 Action of a flywheel
• If the speed tends to rise because of a reduction
in load, the kinetic energy of the flywheel must
be increased because of its higher speed.
• This increase in energy must be supplied by the
driving motor, and represents an additional load
on the motor.
• The resulting rise in speed is then less than it
would have been without the flywheel.
 Action of a flywheel
• The flywheel will act in a similar way to damp
out the effects of variation in the driving
torque developed by the motor.
• The speed of rotation of the shaft will then
vary much less than it would otherwise have
done.
 Examples
1. A crane lifts a load of mass 750 kg. When the
load is at ground level it is supported by ropes
18 m long which together have a mass of 6
kg/m. The load is then raised 12 m. Calculate
the total work done by the crane. Ans: 96.766 KJ
2. A mass of 150 kg is pulled up a plane inclined
at 25° to the horizontal. A force of 4 N/kg acts
down the plane opposing motion.
Ans: 24.438 kJ
 Examples
• Find the total work done, when the mass is
pulled for a distance of 20 m measured up the
plane.
3. A body is moved up a smooth plane inclined
at 15° to the horizontal. If the work done in
moving the body for a distance of 30 m up the
plane is 750 J, find the mass of the body.
Ans: 9.846kg (continued on next slide)
 Examples
What is the potential energy of the body relative
to its original starting position if it is allowed to
slide back down the plane for a distance of
7.5m? Ans: 562.48 J
What happens to this energy if the body slides
back to its original starting position?
 Examples
4. A car moving with a kinetic energy of 120 kJ is allowed
to free-wheel to a stop against an opposing force of 2.5
kN. How far will the car travel before coming to a rest?
Ans: 48 m
5. A load having a mass of 100 kg is raised by winding a
chain, attached to the load, round a drum. The chain has
a mass of 0.75 kg/m. If the load is initially 30 m below
the axis of the drum, find the work done in raising it to a
position of 3 m below this axis. What is then the
potential energy of the load? Ans: 29.764 kJ, 26.487 kJ
 Conversions between potential and kinetic
forms of energy
• Potential energy = mgh = work done in in raising
the mass a height h
• Kinetic energy is due to its mass and velocity
• From the Principal of conservation of energy, it
follows that the potential energy given up in
falling freely through a certain height is
converted to kinetic energy in a moving body.
• Potential energy + kinetic energy = constant
provided no work is done on or by the body
 Conversions between potential and kinetic
forms of energy
• If a mass m (kg) falls freely from a height h (m)
• U = 0, a = -g m/s²
• When the body has fallen through the h m back to
its datum level, the distance travelled s = -h m,
• Final velocity v² = u² + 2as
• or v² = 0 + 2 x (-g) x(-h) = 2gh
• or v = m/s
• and therefore h = m
 Conversions between potential and kinetic
forms of energy
• Note:
• total energy before fall = total energy after fall
• or (initial potential energy) + (initial kinetic energy)
• = (final potential energy) + (final kinetic energy)
• so that
mgh (J) + 0 = 0 + final kinetic energy, as kinetic energy
depends on velocity, express h in terms of v from last
slide, final kinetic energy = mg x J = ½mv² J
 Examples
1. A body of mass 30 kg is raised to a height of
3m above the ground, and then allowed to fall
freely back to the ground. What are the values
of its potential energy and kinetic energy
(a) Before it starts to fall
(b) When it has fallen 1 m
(c) When it reaches the ground again
 Examples
2. What is the kinetic energy of a car having a
mass of 1.25 tonnes when it is travelling at 25
km/h? What happens to this energy when the
brakes are applies to stop the car?
 Power
• Power is the rate at which energy is being
transferred ie the rate of work done.
• Power =
• Power = = force x velocity
• The units for Power are Joules/sec (J/s)
• This unit is abbreviated to Watt (W)
 Power
• 1 MW = 1 x W (= 1 000 000 W) megawatt
• 1 kW = 1 x W (= 1000W) kilowatt
• 1mW = 1 x W (= W) milliwatt
 Power transmitted by a torque
When a torque moves through an angle, work is
done where the value is given by the product of
the torque and the angle turned through in
radians. The power involved is then dependent on
the rate at which the angle is turned through.
Work done (J) = torque (Nm) x angle (rad)
Power (W) = torque (Nm) x angular velocity (rad/s)
or in symbols, Work = Tθ (J)
Power = Tω (W)
 Examples
1. A load of 4 tonnes is raised through a vertical
distance of 15 m in 30 s by a crane motor.
Calculate the work done and the average power
of the motor. Ans: 588.60 kJ, 19.62 kW.
2. The output power from a pump is calculated
to be 15 kW. If the pump is used to raise water
to a height of 30 m, calculate the rate of
pumping in mᶟ/s. Ans : 0.05097 mᶟ/s.