AP Physics C I.C

Work, Energy and Power

Amazingly, energy was not incorporated into physics until more

than 100 years after Newton.

Work and Scalar (Dot) Products

A note on the sign of work

• When 0º ≤ θ < 90º work is positive• When θ = 90º work is zero• When 90º < θ ≤ 180º work is negative

Ex. A book with a mass of 2.0 kg is lifted at a constant velocity to a height of 3.0 m. How much work is done on the book?

Ex. A 15 kg crate is moved along a horizontal surface by a warehouse worker who is pulling on it with a rope that makes an angle of 30.0° with the horizontal. The tension in the rope is 200.0 N and the crate slides a distance of 10.0 m. a) How much work is done on the crate by the rope? b) How much work is done on the crate by the normal force? c) How much work is done on the crate by the frictional force?

Ex. A box slides down an inclined plane that makes an angle of 37° with the horizontal. The mass of the block is 35 kg, the coefficient of friction between the box and ramp is 0.30 and the length of the ramp is 8.0 m. How much work is done by a) gravity? b) the normal force? c) friction? d) What is the total work done?

Graphing work vs. displacement

A quick review of Hooke’s Law

Ex. What is the work a spring done on a spring that is stretched from equilibrium (x = 0) to final displacement x?

Note: the previous example used the calculus form for work since the force was not constant (it

was a function of displacement)

Work and Kinetic Energy

Ex. Use the work-kinetic energy theorem to find the height a tennis ball with mass (0.06 kg) would reach if it is hit upward with an initial speed of 50.0 m/s? Air resistance is negligible.

Ex. A pool cue striking a stationary billiard ball (mass of 0.25 kg) gives the ball a speed of 2.0 m/s? If the average force on the cue on the ball was 200 N, over what distance did this force act?

Potential Energy – energy an object has because of its

configuration within a system. If the configuration changes, the

potential energy changes.

Relationship between change in potential energy and work

Gravitational Potential Energy

Conservation of Mechanical Energy (makes lots of problems simple that might otherwise be

horrendous)

Ex. A child of mass m starts from rest at the top of a water slide 8.5 m above the bottom of the slide. Assuming the slide is frictionless, what is the child’s speed at the bottom of the slide?

Note: if no non-conservative forces are present, the change in energy is independent of the path taken.

Ex. A box, with an initial speed of 3.0 m/s, slides up a frictionless ramp that makes an angle of 37° with the horizontal. How high up the ramp will the box slide? What distance along the ramp will it slide?

Ex. A skydiver jumps fro a hovering helicopter that is 3000 m above the ground. If air resistance is negligible, how fast will the skydiver be falling when his altitude is 2000 m?

Conservative and non-conservative forces

Modifying conservation of energy to include non-

conservative forces

Ex. Wile E. Coyote (mass = 40 kg) falls off a 50 m high cliff. On the way down, the average force of air resistance is 100 N. Find the speed with which he crashes into the ground.

Ex. A skier starts from rest at the top of a 20.0° incline and skis in a straight line to the bottom of the slope a distance d (measured along the slope) of 400 m. If the coefficient of kinetic friction between the skis and the snow is 0.20, calculate the skier’s speed at the bottom of the run.

Hooke’s Law and Elastic Potential Energy (we saw this earlier)

Ex. A 61.0 kg bungee cord jumper is on a bridge 45.0 m above a river. The bungee cord has a relaxed length of 25.0 m. Assuming the cord obeys Hooke’s Law what is the height of the jumper’s feet above the water at the lowest point of the jump?

Potential Energy Curve

F(x) for a potential energy vs. displacement graph

Key aspects of a potential energy curve

• The object moves in a linear path along + x and –x-axis• The force is the negative slope of the curve• Emec = U(x) + K(x)• Turning points: locations where the object is at rest; i.e. K(x) = 0 and Emec = U(x)

• Object is in equilibrium (neutral, unstable, stable) when slope = 0 (F(x) = 0)

• Object cannot reach locations where K is negative• To graph: graph zeros (F(x) = 0), regions of constant

force and connect.

Power