Module 1 Week 6 by Engr. A.R.

Salangsang

What I need to know?

In this lesson, the learner will know how to:
 Define work as a scalar or dot product of force and displacement(STEM_GP12WE-If-42)
 Interpret the work done by a force in one-dimension as an area under a Force vs. Position curve
(STEM_GP12WE-If-43)
 Relate the gravitational potential energy of a system or object to the configuration of the system
(STEM_GP12WE-Ig-48)
 Relate the elastic potential energy of a system or object to the configuration of the system
(STEM_GP12WE-Ig-49 )
 Explain the properties and the effects of conservative forces (STEM_GP12WE-Ig-50)

How is work a dot product of force and displacement? Work done is the product of the
magnitude of the force acting and the displacement in the direction of the force. If the two are
all aligned we can simply say Work done = force x distance moved by force (WD = Fxd)

WORK AND THE SCALAR (DOT) PRODUCT

Definition of Work

In physics many times words have meanings that are not consistent with how these same
words are used in everyday life. For example, in physics "work" takes on a technical meaning
that often contradicts its everyday usage.

Work relates to how a force acts while a system undergoes a displacement. If no displacement
occurs, then in the realm of physics, no work is done. For the same displacement, a larger force
does more work.

However, work in the physics sense is even more strange because if the force is perpendicular
to the displacement then no work is done.

In general the force, F(r), is a function of the point of application, r. Therefore, F(r) can vary in
both magnitude and direction. Suppose the displacement is a differential displacement given by,
dr. Let C represent the path the object experiencing this force moves along; dr points along the
tangent to this curve.

W   F(r) dr

The "dot" in the integrand is defined below, it is called the "dot product".

Special Cases:

 F is constant and parallel to r = x i

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 W = F x

 F is constant and at an angle  to r = x i

 W = F r = F x cos

F is variable and along the x-axis, parallel to r = x i

 W =  F(x) dx

Work as the Area Under a Graph of Force vs. Position

Interpreting graphs is an important skill in physics. You've already encountered this with
position, velocity, and acceleration vs. time graphs. You saw that the slopes of the position vs.
time and velocity vs. time graphs had special meanings. (If you've had or are taking calculus,
you probably realized that we were just talking about derivatives.) Another characteristic of
graphs that has special meaning in some cases is the area under the line on the graph. Consider
this problem: The velocity vs. time graph in Figure 1 represents the motion of an object. Find
the displacement of the object from t = 0 to 9.0 s if the position at t = 0 was 2.0 m. Solution: The
area under the line from t = 0 to 9.0 s is the displacement of the object during that time interval.
We calculate the area simply by summing the areas of the red and green triangles in Figure 2.
The calculation is shown below the figures.

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Figure 1 Figure 2

Displacement = Area of Red Triangle + Area of Green Triangle

= (0.80 m/s)(4.0 s)/2 + (-1.0 m/s)(5.0 s)/2

= -0.9 m

Since the object's initial position was 2.0 m, it's final position is 1.1 m. Note that the area below
the line is negative. This makes sense, because the object is traveling back toward its starting
point. (If you've taken calculus, you recognized that by finding area, we were just finding the
integral of the velocity over time.)

Another example of the use of the area under the line in kinematics is that of an acceleration vs.
time graph. In that case, the area under the line is the change in velocity of the object.

Work Example 1. Now let's go on to an example involving a force vs. position graph. For such
graphs, the area under the line is the work done by the force. This is also discussed in section
7-3 of the text. Let's look at problem 28 at the end of the chapter as an example. Figure 3 below
shows the force applied to an object as a function of the object's position. The goal is to find the
work done by the applied force as the object moves from x = 0 to x = 0.75 m. The method of
solution is simply to sum the areas of the green, blue, and red rectangles shown in Figure 4. This
is done below the figures.

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Figure 3 Figure 4

We write for the work done by the applied force

Note the use of the compact summation notation signified by the upper case sigma, . This
simply means to add the force-displacement products for strips 1 to 3. Note also that we
haven't included a cosθ term for the force displacement product. That's because this is a
one-dimensional situation. The force and displacement will either be parallel or anti-parallel. If
we take F to represent a magnitude, then the positive or negative sign for the parallel or
anti-parallel cases is introduced by the sign of the displacement. If positions are decreasing,
then the displacement will be negative. For the current problem, however, the displacements
are positive. The displacements in the three regions happen to be equal as well, so we can use a
single symbol Δx to represent the displacement for each rectangular strip. Then we have

Work Example 2. This is the b part of the same end-of-chapter problem. Now we are to find the
work done by the applied force as the object moves from xi = 0.15 m to xf = 0.60 m. The
situation is shown in Figure 5.

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Figure 5

We proceed in the same way as before to calculate the work. This time, though, we have to
calculate each displacement individually.

The work done is less than before. This makes sense, because the overall displacement is less.

Work Example 3. Now we'll add our own part c to the problem. If no other force acts on the
object and the object has an initial velocity of 0.55 m/s, what is its final velocity in traveling
from xi = 0.15 m to xf = 0.60 m? We use the work-energy theorem to solve this. First we note
that the work-energy theorem only applies to the net work, that is, the work done by the sum
of the forces acting on the object. Since the only force acting on the object is the applied force,
then Wapp = Wnet. Now we can apply the work-energy theorem.

Wapp = Wnet

= ΔK

= ½m(vf2 - vi2)

vf = [2(Wnet + ½mvi2)/m]½

= [2(0.24 J + ½(2.4 kg)(0.55 m/s)2)/(2.4 kg)]½

= 0.71 m/s

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Work Example 4. For a final example, we're given that the work done by the applied force is
0.30 J, and the initial position of the object is xi = 0.10 m. We want to find the final position xf of
the object. We take this in steps working forward. We find the work done from xi to 0.25 m,
subtract that from the total work done, and see what's left over.

The total work is 0.30 J, so there's (0.30 - 0.090) J left over or 0.21 J. Now we find the work
done from 0.25 m to 0.50 m and subtract from 0.21 J.

This leaves (0.21 - 0.10) J or 0.11 J of work. We can now find out what the third displacement
must be in order that the work is 0.10 J. First, we write

Solving for Δx3,

Now we can calculate the final position: xf = 0.50 m + 0.14 m = 0.64 m. The situation is shown
in Figure 6.

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Figure 6

Gravitational Potential Energy

Climbing stairs and lifting objects is work in both the scientific and everyday sense—it is work
done against the gravitational force. When there is work, there is a transformation of energy.
The work done against the gravitational force goes into an important form of stored energy that
we will explore in this section.

Let us calculate the work done in lifting an object of mass m through a height h, such as in
Figure 1. If the object is lifted straight up at constant speed, then the force needed to lift it is
equal to its weight mg. The work done on the mass is then W = Fd = mgh. We define this to be
the gravitational potential energy (PEg) put into (or gained by) the object-Earth system. This
energy is associated with the state of separation between two objects that attract each other by
the gravitational force. For convenience, we refer to this as the PEg gained by the object,
recognizing that this is energy stored in the gravitational field of Earth. Why do we use the word
“system”? Potential energy is a property of a system rather than of a single object—due to its
physical position. An object’s gravitational potential is due to its position relative to the
surroundings within the Earth-object system. The force applied to the object is an external force,
from outside the system. When it does positive work it increases the gravitational potential
energy of the system. Because gravitational potential energy depends on relative position, we
need a reference level at which to set the potential energy equal to 0. We usually choose this
point to be Earth’s surface, but this point is arbitrary; what is important is the difference in
gravitational potential energy, because this difference is what relates to the work done. The
difference in gravitational potential energy of an object (in the Earth-object system) between

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two rungs of a ladder will be the same for the first two rungs as for the last two rungs.

Figure 1. (a) The work done to lift the weight is stored in the mass-Earth system as gravitational potential energy. (b)
As the weight moves downward, this gravitational potential energy is transferred to the cuckoo clock.

Elastic Potential Energy

The second form of potential energy that we will

discuss is elastic potential energy. Elastic potential
energy is the energy stored in elastic materials as the
result of their stretching or compressing. Elastic
potential energy can be stored in rubber bands,
bungee chords, trampolines, springs, an arrow drawn
into a bow, etc. The amount of elastic potential
energy stored in such a device is related to the amount of stretch of the device - the more
stretch, the more stored energy.
Springs are a special instance of a device that can store elastic potential energy due to either
compression or stretching. A force is required to compress a spring; the more compression
there is, the more force that is required to compress it further. For certain springs, the amount
of force is directly proportional to the amount of stretch or compression (x); the constant of
proportionality is known as the spring constant (k).
Fspring = k • x

Such springs are said to follow Hooke's Law. If a spring is not stretched or compressed, then
there is no elastic potential energy stored in it. The spring is said to be at its equilibrium
position. The equilibrium position is the position that the spring naturally assumes when there
is no force applied to it. In terms of potential energy, the equilibrium position could be called
the zero-potential energy position. There is a special equation for springs that relates the
amount of elastic potential energy to the amount of stretch (or compression) and the spring
constant. The equation is

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PEspring = 0.5 • k • x2

where k = spring constant

x = amount of compression
(relative to equilibrium position)

To summarize, potential energy is the energy that is stored in an object due to its position
relative to some zero position. An object possesses gravitational potential energy if it is
positioned at a height above (or below) the zero height. An object possesses elastic potential
energy if it is at a position on an elastic medium other than the equilibrium position.

Activity #1 Check me!

Check your understanding of the concept of potential energy by answering the following
questions. When finished, click the button to view the
answers.
1. A cart is loaded with a brick and pulled at constant speed
along an inclined plane to the height of a seat-top. If the
mass of the loaded cart is 3.0 kg and the height of the seat
top is 0.45 meters, then what is the potential energy of the
loaded cart at the height of the seat-top?

2. If a force of 14.7 N is used to drag the loaded cart (from previous question) along the incline for a distance
of 0.90 meters, then how much work is done on the loaded cart?

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Activity #2: Energy

Directio ns: En circl e yo ur b est answer
1) Potential energy is the energy an object has due to its ________.

Position
Weight
Mass
Gravity
Motion

2) What is the standard unit of measurement for potential energy?

Ampere

Volt

Newton

Joule

Watt

3) Kinetic energy is the energy an object has due to its ________.

Position

Weight

Mass

Gravity

Motion

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4) Where does a car on a hill have the most potential energy?

Top of the hill

Bottom of the hill

Half way down the hill

It has the same potential energy at all points

5) Gravitational potential energy is the potential energy of an object based on its __________.

Weight and velocity

Height and acceleration

Height and mass

Mass and speed

Speed and height

6) Which of the following formulas is used to find gravitational potential energy?

GPE = m * g/h

GPE = 1/2 * m * h2

GPE = w * g * v

GPE = m * g * h

GPE = m/g *1/2*h2

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Compute for the following values:

7) What is the gravitational potential energy of a 1 kg ball that is 2 meters above the floor?

8) What is the gravitational potential energy of a 3 kg ball that is 1 meter above the floor?

9) If a red ball is higher than a blue ball and both balls have the same mass, which ball has more potential
energy?

Red ball

Blue ball

They both have the same potential energy

10) If a 2 kg rock has 196 J of gravitational potential energy, how high is it?

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Conservative Force

A conservative force is a force done in moving a particle from one point to another, such that
the force is independent of the path taken by the particle. It depends only on the initial and
final position of the particle. Gravitational force and elastic spring forces are two such examples
of conservation forces.

What is Conservative Force?

As the name suggests, conservative force conserves energy. It follows the law of conservation
of energy. Many forces in nature that we know of like the magnetic force, electrostatic force,
gravitational force, etc. are a few examples of a conservative force. Let us understand the
concept better with the help of the following example.

Gravitational force acting on a particle

In the given image, the gravitational force acting on the particle has a magnitude equal to mg,
where m is the mass of the substance and g is the acceleration due to gravity. The particle
moves from point A to point B, and its vertical displacement is given by Δh. The blue curve in
the image represents the arbitrary path traveled by the body due to the influence of other
forces acting on the body. But the arbitrary path is of no consideration to the force of gravity as
it is unaffected by them and therefore can be treated independently. The force of gravity is
only dependent on the vertical displacement.
The total work done by gravity on the body is given as follows:

Wg = -mg (Δh)

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Where,

 Δh is the difference between the final position (at point B) and the initial position (at
point A)
 g is the acceleration due to gravity
 m is the mass of the body
No matter how complicated the path taken by the particle might be, we can easily find out the
work done by gravity on the particle using the above expression just by knowing the vertical
displacement. From this, we can conclude that the gravitational force doesn’t depend on the
path taken but only depends on the initial and final position. Hence, the gravitational force is a
conservative force.

Properties of Conservative Forces

If a force has the following properties, then it is said to be a conservative force.

 When the force only dependent on the initial and final position irrespective of the path
taken.
 In any closed path, the work done by a conservative force is zero.
 The work done by a conservative is reversible.

Activity #3: True/False

1. A force acting in the direction an object is moving does positive work.

2. Kinetic energy is a vector quantity.

3. The gravitational potential energy of a moving object is always zero.

4. When mechanical energy is conserved, the kinetic energy you end up with always equals the
gravitational potential energy you start with.

5. A force acting perpendicular to an object’s displacement does negative work.

6. Energy can be converted from one form to another form.

7. The force needed to lift an object at a constant speed is equal to the weight of the object.

8. The harder you push on a wall the more work you do.

9. Doing the same amount of work in less time requires a greater power output.

10. The SI units of power, watts, are equivalent to joules times seconds.

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References:

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/4-3-newtons-second-law-of-motion-concept-of-a-syste
m/

https://www.unf.edu/~jgarner/work.html

https://a1384-234893.cluster8.canvas-user-content.com/courses/1384~1159/files/1384~234893/course%20f
iles/apb11o/resources/guides/G07-2.work_as_area.htm

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/7-3-gravitational-potential-energy/

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/energy/Lesson-1/Potential-Energy

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