AP Physics B 2014

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AP Physics Notes Mechanical Energy & Momentum
- Conservation Laws in Classical Mechanics -

Table of Contents

1. Work
2. Work & Energy
3. Conservation of Energy
4. Power
5. Momentum
6. Energy & Momentum Links
7. References


Work:

Work The change in energy of a system resulting from the application of a force acting
over a distance
1. Equation: W=F!rcos! where ! is the angle between the force and the
displacement vector, and r is the displacement of the object
a) Units. The units of work are the units of energy. The SI unit of energy is
the Joule. 1 J = 1 N"m = 1 kg"m
2
/s
2

b) Sign conventions. Choose your positive direction. Insert forces with
appropriate signs. Work can be positive or negative.
When the work done on the object increases the energy of the object,
positive work is done.
Example: lifting a box (potential energy is increased), throwing a ball
(kinetic energy is increased)
When the work done on the object decreases the energy of the system,
negative work is done.
Example: When a box is pushed across the floor, friction acts in the
direction opposite to the motion. The work done by friction is
negative.
2. If force is known as a function of position, work is calculated by finding the
area under the graph of force vs. position.




Area = Work Done
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Example 1: A locomotive exerts a constant forwardly directed force of 400 kN on a
train that it pulls for 500 m. How much work does the engine do on the train?








Example 2: A truck is dragging a stalled car up a 20 incline. The tensile force in the
towline is constant, and the two vehicles accelerate at a constant rate. If the chain
makes an angle of 30 with the road and the tension is 1600 N, how much work
was done by the truck on the car in pulling it 0.5 km up the incline?














Example 3: Given the following graph of force vs. position, calculate the work done.

Example 4: How much work is done by a man climbing a ladder at constant speed, if
his mass is 80 kg and he climbs 3 m?







100 N
200 N
100 m
0
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Example 5: A force acts on an spring to compress the spring. The force, F is given
by the equation: F
s
= -kx, where x is the compression of the spring and k is the
spring constant. For this particular spring k=5 N/m. Determine the amount of
work done in compressing the spring 10 cm. Use a graph of F vs. x in your
solution.













Work & Energy:

Kinetic Energy Energy of motion.
1. There are many forms of kinetic energy, but here we are talking about
translational kinetic energy, or going from point A to point B.
2. Equation: where velocity is squared. This means every time
you double the velocity, the kinetic energy quadruples.
a) Units. The units of ANY form of energy are the same as the units of
work. The SI unit of energy is the Joule. 1 J = 1 N"m = 1 kg"m
2
/s
2

b) Sign conventions. Since velocity is squared, there is no such thing as
negative kinetic energy.

Work Energy Theorem The work done by the net force on an object is equals to its
change in kinetic energy.
1. Equation: W = #K
a) #K = K
f
- K
I

b) (m is mass and v is speed)
c) This equation cannot always be applied to deformable objects.

Example 6: An 80 gram arrow is fired from a bow whose string exerts an average
force of 95 N on the arrow over a distance of 80 cm. What is the speed of the
arrow as it leaves the bow?







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Potential Energy Energy associated with forces that depend on the position or
configuration of the body and the surroundings.
1. Elastic Potential Energy: Potential energy stored in a spring. When a spring is
compressed, there is potential energy stored in the spring. If a spring is
elongated (within its elastic limit), there is potential energy stored in the
spring. When released, the potential energy will be converted to kinetic
energy.
a) The force exerted by the spring is given by F
s
= - kx.
"x" is the change in the length of the spring
The negative sign is because the force the spring exerts is in the
opposite direction of the compression or elongation of the spring. (If
you stretch a spring, it tries to pull your hand back)
"k" is the spring constant. It is a measure of the stiffness of the spring.
The units of k are N/m, or kg/s
2
.
The equation F
s
= - kx, is a linear equation.
b) The potential energy stored in the spring is given by
This is equal to the work done in changing the springs length.

2. Gravitational Potential Energy: The energy an object possesses due to its
position relative to the Earth.
a) The work done to lift a mass at constant speed is the product of the weight
of the mass and the height it is lifted. W
against gravity
= mgh
The only thing we can measure are changes in the potential energy of a
mass.
b) The gravitational potential energy stored in the object is equal to the work
done against gravity.
The height h, is the height measured with respect to an arbitrary
reference level. (You choose it)

Example 7: A flagpole painter is carrying a 2.00 kg can of white paint. She has
climbed 10.0 m up the pole from its base, where she just finished having lunch on
the roof of a 30.0 m tall tower. (1) What is the increase in the potential energy of
the can as a result of the last ascent? (2) What is the total increase in the can's
potential energy above the value it had when it sat on the ground? (3) If we fix U
g

= 0 at the top of the roof, what was the U
g
of the can when it sat on the ground?












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Conservation of Energy:

Law of Conservation of Energy - Energy can neither be created or destroyed.
1. Conservative Forces: forces for which the work done is independent of the
path taken, but only depends on the initial and final positions.
Gravity or spring forces are conservative forces.
Friction or applied force are non conservative forces.
2. Total Mechanical Energy (E) = the sum of the kinetic and potential energies.
E = K + U
3. The Principle of Conservation of Mechanical Energy states that if only
conservative forces are acting, the total mechanical energy of a system stays
constant (it is conserved).

Example 8: A projectile is fired at an upward angle of 45.0 from the top of a 265-m
cliff with a speed of 350 m/s. What will its speed be when it strikes the ground
below? (Use conservation of energy)

















Example 9: A small cart of mass (m) slides without friction along the loop apparatus
shown below. If the object is to remain on the track, even at the top of the circle
(of radius r), what is the largest radius (r) possible?













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Example 10: A 450 g wood block is firmly attached to a very light horizontal spring
(k = 180 N/m) as shown. It is noted that the spring-block system, when
compressed 5.0 cm and released. Stretches out 2.3 cm beyond the equilibrium
position before stopping and turning back. What is the coefficient of kinetic
friction between the block and the table?







Power:

Power The rate of doing work.
1.
2. The SI unit of work is the Watt (W). 1 W = 1 J/s
3. A second form of power is derived from a Work vs. time graph:

!

Example 10: A pump is to lift 8.00 kg of water per minute through a height of 3.50
m. What output rating (Watts) should the pump motor have?











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Momentum:

Linear Momentum (p) The product of mass and velocity.
1. p = mv
2. Momentum is a vector quantity since velocity is a vector
3. Units of momentum: kg"m/s

Impulse (F#t) A change in momentum.
1. Impulse is a vector. When a net force acts on an object over a period of time,
the impulse exerted on the object is equal to the change in momentum of the
object.
2. Units of impulse: N"s, kg"m/s.
3. J = F#t = #p = m #v
4. This is actually another way of writing Newton's 2
nd
Law

The $ is omitted because it is assumed that the force during the collision is
strong and is the net force.

Example 11: A golf ball of mass 0.045 kg is hit off the tee at a speed of 50 m/s. The
golf club was in contact with the ball for 5.0 x 10
-3
s. Find (1) the impulse
imparted to the golf ball and (2) the average force exerted on the ball by the golf
club.












Conservation of Momentum The total momentum of an isolated system of bodies
remains constant. (no external forces)
1. A system is a set of objects.
2. Isolated means the only forces present are those between the objects of the
system. If there are external forces (forces exerted by objects outside the
system) and they don't add up to zero, momentum will not be conserved.

Collisions -
1. Elastic collisions: if the objects are very hard and elastic and no heat is
produced in the collision
a) Total Kinetic Energy of the system is conserved
2. Inelastic collisions: Kinetic energy is not conserved.
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3. Completely inelastic collision: when the two objects are stuck together after
the collision
4. Notation. When doing collision problems the ' symbol is used to denote
quantities after the collision. This is read as "prime" ('), the values before the
collision are unprimed.

Collision Examples

Example 12: A gun is fired vertically into a 1.40 kg block of wood at rest directly
above it. If the bullet has a mass of 21.0 g and a speed of 310 m/s, how high will
the block rise into the air after the bullet becomes imbedded in it?















Example 13: A 0.300 kg ball, moving with a speed of 2.50 m/s has a head on
collision with a 0.600 kg ball initially moving away from it at a speed of 1.00 m/s.
Assuming a perfectly elastic collision, what is the speed and direction of each ball
after the collision?




















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Example 14: During a rainy day football game, a 854 N quarterback is standing
holding the ball looking for a receiver when he's unkindly hit by a 1281 N tackle
chargin in at 6.1 m/s. (a) At what speed do the two men, tangled together, go
sailing off into the wet field? Assume that friction is negligible and that the
impact is head-on. (b) How much mechanical energy is lost to friction?
















Energy & Momentum Links:

Animations:
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/energy/energyTOC.html
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/momentum/momentumTOC.html
Lessons:
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/energy/energtoc.html
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/momentum/momtoc.html


References:

http://online.cctt.org/physicslab/content/PhyAPB/review/summaries/MechanicsII.asp
www.physicsclassroom.com
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfadd/1150/15Period/Vert.html
http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/course_archive/phys1000/work.html