KWV PHYSCS GRADE 12

WORK, ENERGY & POWER NOTES

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 ❖ WORK, ENERGY AND POWER

➢ WORK

✓ Work is the transfer of energy.

✓ Work done on an object by a force is the product of the displacement and the component of the

force parallel to the displacement.

✓ Define the work done on an object by a constant force F as:

W = FΔx cosθ

WHERE:

o F → is the magnitude of the force

o Δx → the magnitude of the displacement

o θ → the angle between the force and the displacement.

✓ Work is a scalar quantity, i.e. no direction

✓ The joule is the amount of work done when a force of one newton moves its point of application

one metre in the direction of the force.

❖ WORK ALWAYS INVOLVES TWO THINGS

o A force which acts on a certain object.

o The displacement of that object.

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 KEY!

✓ When a resultant force is applied to an object, the resultant force accelerates the block across

distance Δx. Work has been done to increase the kinetic energy of the block.

✓ If a resultant force is applied to an object vertically, the resultant force lifts the block through

distance Δy.

✓ Work has been done to increase the potential energy of the block.

✓ Work is only done in the direction of the displacement.

✓ Work is done by the component of the force that is parallel to the displacement.

✓ The angle between the force and the displacement is θ.

❖ ZERO WORK

✓ No work done on an object moving at a constant velocity, if the force and displacement are

perpendicular to each other.

✓ No force in the plane of the displacement, hence, no work is done and no energy is transferred.

✓ We can also say that the applied force does not change the potential energy or kinetic energy of

the object.

❖ POSITIVE WORK

✓ A force/force component in the direction of the displacement does positive work on the object.

✓ The force increases the energy of the object.

✓ Positive work means that energy is added to the system.

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 ❖ NEGATIVE WORK

✓ A force/force component in the opposite direction of the displacement does negative work on the

object.

✓ The force decreases the energy of the object.

✓ Negative work means that energy is being removed from the system.

➢ NET WORK ON AN OBJECT

✓ A number of forces can act on an object at the same time.

✓ Each force can do work on the object to change the energy of the object.

✓ The net work done on the object is the sum of the work done by each force acting on the object.

o If Wnet is positive, energy is added to the system.

o If Wnet is negative, energy is removed from the system.

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 ➢ WORK-ENERGY THEOREM

✓ WORK-ENERGY THEOREM
:

The net/total work done on an object is equal to the change in the object's kinetic
energy
The work done on an object by a resultant/net force is equal to the change in the
object's kinetic energy.

KEY!

✓ The work-energy theorem can be applied. to the objects on horizontal , vertical and
inclined planesfor both frictionless and rough surfaces
.
✓ Starting from rest means the velocity initial is zero
.
✓ Comes to rest means the velocity final is zero.
❖

✓ Angle can be calculated using trigonometric ration: sine

✓ Can be used to calculate any unknown since you are given the height.

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 ➢ FORCES

❖ CONSERVATIVE FORCE

✓ Conservative force is a force for which the work done in moving an object between two points is

independent of the path taken.

Examples are gravitational force, the elastic force in a spring and electrostatic forces.

KEY!

✓ A force is a conservative force if:

The work done by the force in moving an object from point A to point B is independent of the path taken.

The net work done in moving an object in a closed path which starts and ends

❖ NON-CONSERVATIVE FORCE

✓ Non-conservative force is a force for which the work done in moving an object between two points

depends on the path taken.

Examples are frictional force, air resistance, tension in a chord, etc.

KEY!

✓ A force is a non-conservative force if:

The work done by the force in moving an object from point A to point B is dependent of the path taken.

The net work done in moving an object in a closed path which starts and ends at the same point is not zero.

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 ➢ ENERGY

❖ PRINCIPLE OF CONSERVATION OF MECHANICAL ENERGY

Principle of conservation of mechanical energy: The total mechanical energy in an isolated system

remains constant.

✓ Mechanical energy is sum of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy.

✓ A system is isolated when the resultant/net external force acting on the system is zero.

✓ Be in the position to use the principles of energy to show that in the absence of nonconservative

forces, mechanical energy is conserved.

✓ The mechanical energy of a system is conserved when only conservative forces are present in the

system.

✓ The mechanical energy of a system is not conserved when non-conservative forces are present in

the system (e.g. friction, air resistance, applied forces and tension).

✓ The work done by these non-conservative forces is equal to the change in the total mechanical

energy of the system.

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 ➢ POWER

✓ Power is the rate at which work is done or energy is expended.

𝑊
𝑃 = ∆𝑡

P → Power in Watts(W)

W → work done in Joules (J).

Δt → change in time in seconds (s).

✓ Be in the position to calculate the power involved when work is done.

✓ Perform calculations using when an object moves at a constant speed along a rough horizontal surface or a

rough inclined plane.

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 ➢ AVERAGE POWER (CONSTANT VELOCITY)

✓ We can calculate the average power needed to keep an object moving at constant speed.

✓ If the car is driven at a constant speed, the magnitude of the forward force is equal to the magnitude of the

frictional force.

✓ If the car is driven at constant speed then the force of the engine up the slope must be equal in magnitude to

the force down the slope.

✓ Be in a position to calculate the power output for a pump lifting a mass (e.g. lifting water through a height

at constant speed).

❖ Velocity is given by displacement over time:

∆𝑥
𝑉𝑎𝑣𝑒 = ∆𝑡

𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑒 = 𝑓. 𝑉𝑎𝑣𝑒

NOTE:

P → Average Power

F → Force

V → Constant Velocity

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