Applied Physics: Work, Energy and its Conservation

Abu Bakr Mehmood

Spring 2023

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Some opening remarks

Here we will develop the notions of work, kinetic and potential energy.

We will also discuss the relations between work and kinetic energy,
work and potential energy, kinetic and potential energy, and formulate
the conservation law.

The main advantage of the conservation law is that it entails the end
points of the motion without regard to the details in between .

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Work (1)

For 1-dimensional motion, say along x axis, the familiar definition of

work is:
W = Fx △ x.
This value is positive if the force and displacement vectors are
parallel, and negative if they are antiparallel.
An illustrative example would be pushing an automobile, causing
acceleration or deceleration.
The SI unit of work is the Joule, which is defined as the amount of
work done by a force of 1 N in moving through a distance of 1 m :

1 J = (1 N) (1 m) = 1 N.m

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Work (2)
The following scenario will illustrate the important idea that work
done is frame dependent.
Consider computing the work done by the man on the ball in (1): the
earth reference frame, and (2): the elevator reference frame.

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Work (3)
When motion is 2-dimensional, say in the x-y plane, the force and
displacement need not be along the same direction.
Here one can generalize the definition of work by realizing that it is
only the component of the force along the direction of motion that
matters:

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Work (4)

Consider a curve C , an infinitesimal displacement vector along the

curve: dr, and the force vector at the vicinity of the displacement:
F (r).
The infinitesimal work done by the force along the displacement is

dW = F (r) .dr

And the total work done by the force along the curve is

W = ∫ F (r) .dr
C

Along a curve in 3-dimensional space, work is defined similarly.

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Work (5)
For the case of 1-dimensional motion, it is then immediately obvious
that the work done interprets as the area under the force vs.
displacement graph:
b
W =∫ Fx (x)dx.
a

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Kinetic Energy (1)
In physics, we look at energy as the capacity to do work, it is viewed
as the ‘amount of work’ stored in a body.
Of course given the appropriate conditions, this ‘stored’ work can be
converted to ‘actual’ work.
The energy (or work) stored in a body by virtue of its motion is called
the Kinetic Energy.
Consider an arrow shot at the trunk of a tree.
Evidently, the arrow rips through the trunk and penetrates to a
certain depth where it comes to rest.
The kinetic energy (stored work) of the arrow allows the tip to tear
through the trunk.
The tip performs work on the trunk, tearing and ripping it apart.
The arrow comes to rest when the stored work is completely utilized
in penetrating the trunk.
A greater kinetic energy means greater work and greater penetration.
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Kinetic Energy (2)
For a particle performing 1-dimensional motion, a straightforward
calculation will show that the work done by the net force comes out
proportional to the change in squared speed:
x2 1 1
W =∫ Fnet,x dx = mv22 − mv12 .
x1 2 2
This result extends easily to the case of 3-dimensional motion:
1 1
W = ∫ Fnet (r).dr = mv22 − mv12 .
C 2 2
A positive W means we are working on the body and increasing the
amount of 12 mv 2 in the body.
A negative W means the body is working on us and losing its amount
of 21 mv 2 .
Thus 12 mv 2 is the amount of work stored in the body, called its
kinetic energy.
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Kinetic Energy (3)

The preceding result simply states that the work done on a body is
the change in its kinetic energy:

W = △K .

This is called the Work-Energy theorem.

Importantly, one has to be working with the net force when making
use of this result.
The unit of kinetic energy is the same as that for work: the Joule.

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Gravitational Potential Energy (1)

Kinetic energy was defined as the capacity of a body to do work, by

virtue of its speed.
Likewise, we define the Gravitational Potential Energy of a body as
its capacity to do work by virtue of its position.
We will begin with analyzing the scenario in which the gravitational
field is nearly constant.
For this special case, the concept of potential energy will be
developed along with the conservation law.
The situation where Ð →g changes with position will be considered later.

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Gravitational Potential Energy (2)
Consider transporting a particle to some height h above the surface of
the earth.
Let’s determine the minimum amount of work that we will have to
perform on the particle.
Naturally, we will have to provide a force equal and opposite to the
particle’s weight, to be able to move it upwards at constant speed.
The particle displacement is in the same direction as the force that we
apply.
Thus we perform positive work on the particle, which gets stored:

W = mgh = mg (y2 − y1 ) = mg △ y .

Notably, this result is independent of the path taken by the particle.

As before, the work stored in the particle can now be recovered when
we allow the particle to push against some obstacle on its way down.
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Gravitational Potential Energy (3)
A similar argument will show that the work done by gravity along any
path is
Wgravity = − (mgy2 − mgy1 ) < 0.
We conclude that whenever gravity performs negative work on the
particle, it increases the amount of mgy stored in the particle.
To allow gravity to perform positive work on the particle, we let the
particle descend from height y2 to y1 under the influence of gravity.
Then the work done by gravity calculates to
Wgravity = + (mgy2 − mgy1 ) .
Thus when gravity does positive work on a particle, it decreases the
amount of mgy stored in the particle.
We conclude that mgy is the amount of gravitational work that is
stored in the particle, and call it the gravitational potential energy:
U = mgy .
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Gravitational Potential Energy (4)
From either of the preceding pair of equations, we can deduce that
Wgravity = − (Ufinal − Uinitial ) ≡ − △ U.
Now suppose gravity is the only force acting on the particle.
Then clearly, the particle will perform free fall motion, descending a
height h.
The force of gravity will perform +ive work on the particle, decreasing
its amount of mgh, and increasing its amount of 12 mv 2 :
Wgravity = − △ U = △K
Ô⇒ Kf + Uf = Ki + Ui Ô⇒ K + U = constant.
We see that the sum of kinetic and potential energies of a particle,
called its mechanical energy (E ), is a constant of free fall motion:
E = K + U = constant.
This is called the law of conservation of mechanical energy.
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Gravitational Potential Energy (5)

This easily yields the third equation of kinematics for free fall, without
going through the details of the motion:

vf2 − vi2 = 2 (−g ) (yf − yi ) .

Consider a particle sliding freely along a surface of arbitrary shape.

Then it is interesting to see that the preceding results hold, since
gravity is the only force doing work.
Let’s look at some example problems (Ohanian and Markert) for
better understanding of these ideas.

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Example Problems: Ohanian and Markert (1)

These illustrate the important idea that:

∫ F.dr is path independent, that is F is conservative ⇐⇒ ∇ × F = 0.

C

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Example Problems: Ohanian and Markert (2)

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Example Problems: Ohanian and Markert (3)

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Example Problems: Ohanian and Markert (4)

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Example Problems: Ohanian and Markert (5)

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Example Problems: Ohanian and Markert (6)

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Example Problems: Ohanian and Markert (7)

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