Topic 1- Mechanics 1

1B- Energy

1B.1. Gravitational potential and Kinetic Energy

 Energy is a scalar quantity. Therefore we do not consider a direction in energy calculations.
 However the energy may increase or decrease based on the movement/ position of the object.
 The unit of energy is Joules(J)

Gravitational potential energy

 Gravitational potential energy is the amount of energy an object possesses due to it’s position
in a gravitational field.
 A change in GPE is caused by a change in height.
 Change in GPE can be calculated using the formula

where ΔEgrav is the change in gravitational potential energy, m is the mass of the object, g is the
gravitational field strength and Δh is the change in height.
 The value of g is considered as a constant close to the surface of the earth. However this can
change for objects that are further away from the earth.
 Gravitational potential can also be calculated as the work done against gravity. This will be
discussed in further lessons.

Kinetic energy

 This is the amount of energy a moving object possesses.

 Kinetic energy depends on the mass of the object as well as its speed.
 The amount of kinetic energy is given by the equation

where Ek is the amount of kinetic energy, m is the mass of the object and v is it’s speed.

Q1. A child of mass 25kg climbs up a tree of height 2m. calculate is gain in gravitational potential
energy

Q2. A cat of mass 1.8kg jumps from a roof of height 2.4m.

a. What is its change in gravitational potential energy?
b. Is it a gain in potential energy or a loss of potential energy?

Q3. A lorry of mass 1200kg has a speed of 40kmh-1. What is its kinetic energy in Joules?
Q4. An object has a kinetic energy of 30J.
a. If the mass of the object is 0.4kg, find the speed of the object.
b. Another object travelling at twice the speed has the same mass. Find its kinetic energy.
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1B- Energy

Conservation of energy

 The law of conservation of energy states

“energy cannot be created nor destroyed. It can only be transformed from one form to
another”

E.g. As an apple falls from a tree, it’s kinetic energy increases. Explain this in terms of energy transfer.

Q5. A tennis ball is thrown up at a speed of 20ms-1. Using energy transfers calculate
a. The maximum height it reaches
b. The speed of the ball at a height of 0.8m above ground level
c. The height from the ground when its speed is 0.5ms-1
Q6. A rock is dropped from a cliff of height 100m from rest. Find the speed of the rock as it hits the
ground below the cliff

Determination of gravitational field strength using conservation of energy (CP1)

 The concept of energy conservation can also be used to determine value for the gravitational
field strength.
 When an object falls under gravity

 From this equation you can see that,

using a single data point we can calculate a value for g

 However we have learnt that using one reading only creates greater uncertainty
 This can be reduced by using a graphical method
 The same equation can be rearranged as follows

 A graph of v2 vs. Δh produces a straight line graph through the origin and a value for g can be
calculated using the gradient of the graph.

Checkpoint- Page 38
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1B- Energy

1B.2. Work and Power

Work done

 “Work done” in physics refers to the amount of energy transferred.

 If a force acts on a body causing it to move, we say work is done on the body, by the force.
 This amount of mechanical work done(energy transferred) is given by the equation,

Work done by forces acting at an angle

Consider a block sliding down an incline at a constant speed v

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1B- Energy

Work done against resistive forces

 When you consider an object falling under gravity you may realise its kinetic energy as it
reaches the ground is slightly less than the calculated value. This is because of the impact of air
resistance. When the object is falling down, air resistance acts in upwards direction. Some of
the energy the object possessed initially will be used up to do work against air resistance.

 Consider trying to push an object on the ground. If the surface is smooth it can be achieved
easily. If it’s rough you need to put in more effort. This is because some of the energy you put
in is used up to do work against friction.

 However the energy used to do work against resistive forces is a waste of energy. Many
techniques are therefore used to reduce the effects of friction and air resistance
e.g. using lubricants between moving parts of engines, streamlined shape of aircraft

Efficiency

 When energy is transferred from one source to another all of the supplied energy may not get
converted to a useful form.
 Think of a light bulb.

After it works for a while the light heats up. This means the electric energy supplied to the bulb
is being converted to heat energy as well as light energy. Usually a bulb is used to light up a
room. Therefore the amount of energy converted to light becomes “useful energy” and the
energy converted to heat becomes useless.
 Efficiency is a measure of the useful energy output compared to the total energy input. It can
be given as a percentage or a fraction.
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1B- Energy

Power

 Power is the amount of energy transferred per unit time.

 Power can be calculated using the following formulae

 Unit of power is Watts (W). It is also equal to Js-1.

 The equation for efficiency too can be rewritten in terms of power

Q7. A particle of mass 5kg is raised to a height of 2.5m. Find the amount of work done.
Q8. Amy uses 20N of force to push a lawn mower 10 meters. How much work does she do?
Q9. Tommy does 15 Joules of work to push the pencil over 1 meter. How much force did he use?

Q10. A 190,000 W engine can accelerate from rest to a top speed in 9 s. How much work did the
engine do?

Q11. A girl with mass 60 kg slides 3 m down an inclined plane as shown in the picture.

a. Calculate the work done on the girl by gravity.

b. Calculate the work done on the girl by the normal force.
Q12. A block (5 kg) is pulled by a force of 60 N at an angle of 30◦ to the ground. The block moves
3.25 m.

a. Calculate the work done on the block by gravity. b. Calculate the work done on the
block by the applied force.
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1B- Energy

Q13. A 1200 kg car is pulled 3 m up an incline (30◦ with the ground) by a rope exerting a force of
8000 N on the car. The car experiences a 20 N frictional force.

a. Draw a labelled free body diagram of all the forces acting on the car.
b. Calculate the net work done on the car.

Q14. An 850 kg elevator is pulled up at a constant velocity of 1.00 m/s by a 10.0 kW electric motor.
Calculate the efficiency of the electric motor.

Q15. A 500 W electric motor lifts a 20.0 kg object 5.00 m is 3.50 s. What is the efficiency of the
motor?

Q16. A computer that is 87% efficient consumes 375 kWh of energy. How much useful energy does
it provide?

Checkpoint- Page 41

Exam Practice 1B