Work, Power, Energy

Learning Objectives
Students will know that...
Work is defined as force times the distance involved in moving an object

Power is the rate of doing work

Kinetic energy is the energy of a moving object and is equal to one-half the mass of the object
times the square of its speed.

Gravitational (potential) energy is energy stored in an object due to its position. It has the
potential to do work.

Conservation of energy is a means of energy accounting. If no work is added then the overall
energy of a system remains constant
 Which are examples of work?
A teacher applies a force to a wall and becomes
exhausted.
A weightlifter lifts a barbell above her head.

A rocket accelerates through space.

A waiter carries a tray full of meals above his head by

one arm straight across the room at constant speed
 Talk to your
neighbor and come
up with one word
to describe work.
WHAT IS
WORK?
We will take all of
these words and
together come up
with a definition.
WORK ACCORDING TO
PHYSICS..

• When a force acts on an object in the

direction of movement, work is done
on that object
• Two components of work:
• displacement (change in position)
• force (in the direction of
displacement)
• Work causes a change in energy
FACTORS EFFECTING
WORK
Can any force do work?
Only forces acting parallel to Fnormal
the displacement can do work. F F
y
F
Forces acting perpendicular to the x

direction of motion do zero work

d
For example: the normal force is
Fgrav
perpendicular to the surface of travel,
causing no work

For example: gravitational forces

do no work when an object moves
horizontally
 Direction of
Direction of Force Work?
Movement
Left Left

Upward Left

Upward Upward

Downward Right

SUMMARY
 Which are examples of work?
A teacher applies a force to a wall and becomes No
exhausted.
A weightlifter lifts a barbell above her head.
Yes

A rocket accelerates through space. Yes

A waiter carries a tray full of meals above his head by No

one arm straight across the room at constant speed
 Which of the following
scenario requires the most
work?​
A. A 50 kg dumbbell at rest. ​

PRACTICE B. A person lifting a 100 kg

dumbbell over their head.​
QUESTION
C. A person holding a 150 kg
medicine ball. ​

D. A 10 kg dumbbell at rest on
the floor.
SOLVING FOR WORK

The amount of work you do depend on the

distance the object is moved and the strength
of the applied force in the direction of travel

Work = Force x Distance

 SOLVING
FOR WORK
Equation Variables:
W is work (Joules- J)
F is force (Newtons-N)
d is distance (meters-
m)

The Joule is a derived

unit.
The joule is the basic
unit of energy.
PRACTICE
PROBLEM
1:

1. You must exert a

force of 4.5 N on a
book to slide
it across a table. If
you do 2.7 J of work
in the process, how
far have you moved
the book?
 2. A child pulls
a sled up a
snow-covered
hill. The
child does 405 J
of work on the
sled. If the child
walks 15 m up
the hill, how
large of a force
PRACTICE PROBLEM must the child
exert?
2
POWER
Part 2
QUESTION

• Which requires more work?

1. lifting a one-kilogram mass two
meters in one second
2. lifting a one-kilogram mass two
meters in one minute
DON’T BE TRICKED!

They require the same amount

of work.

But you say: “it’s harder to lift

an object quickly than it is to
raise it slowly!”
POWER!

Doing work at a faster rate

requires more power.
Power is how fast work is
accomplished
... or the rate at which energy is
used or consumed
HOW CAN YOU INCREASE
POWER?

Increase the amount of work

done in a given time or

You can do a given amount

of work in less time.
EXAMPLE- POWER

• Two neighbors are removing snow from

their driveway, one neighbor is using a
snow shovel and the other is using a snow
blower.
• Is work being done to remove the snow?
• Which requires more power?
• How could the power be increased
further?
MEASURIN
G POWER
• Units are in joules per second
(J/s), which is called a watt (W), coffee maker 0.75 hp
the metric unit of power.
• Power can also be converted to blender 1.5 hp
units of horsepower (HP).
• Horsepower (HP) is used to lawn mower 5-6 hp
measure large amounts of power.
• Conversion Factor: 1 HP =
750 W Corvette > 400 hp
POWER
EQUATION
:
Variables:
P- power (W)
t- time (s)
W- work (J)
PRACTICE
PROBLEM 1:
1. Joe does 526 Joules of work over 2
minutes. How much power did he have?
PRATICE PROBLEM
2:
2. How much time does it take for a machine
that is doing 15.5 J of work to produce 45.0 W?
 PRACTICE PROBLEM 3:
A 2021 Corvett has roughly 495 HP. How much power
in watts does this Corvette have?
Work/Power Recap
The amount of work you do depends on the distance the object
is moved and the strength of the applied force in the direction
of travel

Power is how fast work is accomplished or the rate at which

energy is used or consumed
ENERGY Part 3
 Energy cannot be created or
destroyed. It can be
transformed from one form
to another, but the total
amount of energy never
changes. ​
BIG IDEAS
Friction and air resistance
are the causes of common
losses of mechanical energy
in systems. They usually
transform mechanical
energy to thermal energy.
 Recall that work is done
when a force moves an
object through a distance.

Energy is the ability to

ENERGY do work

All interactions involve

either energy transfer or
energy storage
Types of Energy Include:
Mechanical: Energy of movement and position

Chemical: Energy stored in chemical bonds of molecules

Thermal: “Heat energy” stored in materials at a certain temperature

Nuclear: Energy produced from the splitting of atoms

Radiant Energy: Energy traveling the form of electromagnetic waves

Electric Energy: Energy traveling as the flow of charged particles (i.e. electrons)
Potential Energy
 Potential Energy
• An object possesses potential energy
because of its position.
 Work must be done to
lift your backpack off
the floor against the pull
of gravity (potential
GRAVITATI energy)
ONAL
POTENTIA Potential energy that
L ENERGY depends upon an
object's height is called
gravitational potential
energy.
HOW MUCH WORK IS DONE
TO LIFT THE BACKPACK OFF
THE FLOOR?

• The force needed to lift the backpack is

equal to its weight (mg).
• Distance that the backpack is moved
is height h.
• This is the amount of energy gained due to
lifting
• It’s also the amount of energy lost if the
mass is dropped height, h.
• Variables:
• PE- Potential Energy (J)
• m- mass (kg)
• g- gravity (9.8 m/s2)
• h- height (m)

POTENTIAL ENERGY
EQUATION
 1. How much potential energy
does a 32 kg person have
PRACTICE when 12m above the ground?
PROBLEM:
POTENTIA
L ENERGY
PRACTICE
PROBLEM:
POTENTIAL
ENERGY
2. An astronaut with
a mass of 105 kg is
5.50 m above Pluto’s
surface.
The astronaut’s
potential energy is
443 J. Calculate the
acceleration due
to gravity on Pluto.
 Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion

Performing work on an object can change the object’s speed (accelerating

or decelerating)

Consider the case of hockey:

Force acts over distance d,

Stick pushes with
Puck starts at then acceleration stops,
force F, causing
rest leaving the puck with a
acceleration
specific speed, v.
 Kinetic energy (KE) is
an object’s ability to do
work due to its motion.
KINETIC
ENERGY The amount of kinetic
energy a moving object
has is equal to the
amount of work done to
bring it to that speed.
 Kinetic Energy
Kinetic
Work
Energy

mass speed
 • Note that the velocity of the
object is squared when
determining KE.
• If the velocity of the object
KINETIC is doubled,
ENERGY the KE is quadrupled.
• Variables:
• KE- Kinetic Energy (J)
• m- mass (kg)
• v- velocity (m/s)

KINETIC ENERGY
EQUATION
 KE Example
1. Determine the kinetic energy of a 10-kg roller

gi v 4x of 1 m/s.
coaster car that is moving with a sspeed
e
sp e e d
2x th e !
th e K E
2. If the roller coaster car in the above problem
were moving with twice the speed, then what
would be its new kinetic energy?
PRACTICE
PROBLEM:
KINETIC
ENERGY

3. How fast is a
96 kg person
traveling if
the person has
13000 J of kinetic
energy?
 4. A dog running at a speed of 6
m/s has 1,000 J of kinetic energy.
PRACTICE What is the mass of the dog?
PROBLEM:
KINETIC
ENERGY
One ball is thrown and another is dropped. Which
statement describes the kinetic energy of the balls while
they are moving through the air?
A. Both the ball that was thrown and the ball that was
dropped have kinetic energy.
B. The ball that was thrown has kinetic energy, but the
ball that was dropped does not.
C. The ball that was dropped has kinetic energy, but the
ball that was thrown does not.
D. Neither the ball that was thrown nor the ball that was
dropped has kinetic energy.
 LAW OF
CONSERVATION OF Part 4

ENERGY
 Energy is not created
nor destroyed, it
is transformed from one
state into others and
LAW OF back again.
CONSERVA
TION OF
ENERGY Energy used to do work
is NOT lost but it
is transformed.
CONSERVATI
ON OF
ENERGY
• Potential and
kinetic energy
are constantly transformin
g back and forth
• Most of the time
during this
transformation, some
energy is turned to heat
and transferred out of the
system
Conservation of
Energy
• At what position is Potential Energy the
highest?
• At what position is Potential Energy the
lowest?
• At what position is Kinetic Energy the highest?
• At what position is Kinetic Energy the lowest?
• What happens as the book falls to the
ground?
Conservation of
Mechanical Energy

• Mechanical Energy
remains constant in the
absence of friction
Initial ME = Final ME
• Conservation of
Mechanical Energy
Equation:
PEi + KEi = PEf + KEf
 Equation:
Conservation of PEi + KEi = PEf + KEf
Mechanical • KEi = 0

Energy • PEf = 0
Simplified Equation:
Equation
Initial Potential Energy = Final Kinetic
Energy
 A 65 kg ceiling light is suspended 10 m above the
floor. Use Conservation of Mechanical Energy to
answer the questions below. Assume the light
were to break and fall.
Practice
Problem 1: a. What is the initial potential energy?

Conservation
of b. What is the kinetic energy the moment
Mechanical before it hits the ground?

Energy
c. What is the velocity of the ceiling light the
moment before it hits the ground?
Practice
Problem 2:
Conservation
of • A ball with a mass 1.5 kg rolls off a
shelf that is 2.5 m above the floor.
Mechanical How much kinetic energy does the
ball have when it hits the floor?
Energy
Practice
Problem 3:
• A ball with a mass of 15 kg is dropped
Conservation from a set of bleachers. It is found to
of Mechanical have a velocity of 65.0 m/s the
moment before it hits the ground.
Energy What was the initial height the ball
was dropped from?
Conservation of Mechanical Energy Example
 • Explain how an object gets
kinetic energy. And where
does this energy come
EXIT from?
TICKET • Predict how a moving
object could transform its
kinetic energy into
potential energy?