Problems on Work and Energy

S10 A car having a mass of 500 kg is initially traveling with a speed of 80 km/hr. It slows
down at a constant rate, coming to a stop in a distance of 50 m.
a.) What is the change in the car's kinetic energy over the 50 m distance it travels while
coming to a stop?
b.) What is the net force on the car while it's coming to a stop?
c.) Where is the force applied?
d.) If the car slows to a stop on level ground, is the work done on it recoverable?
S11 A 1 kg ball is dropped from the top of a cliff and falls with a constant acceleration due to
gravity (9.8 m/s2). Assume that effects of air resistance can be ignored.
a.) By how much has the ball's gravitational potential energy changed after it has fallen
by 10 m?
b.) How fast is the ball going after it has fallen by 10 m?
c.) What is the force (if any) that does work on the ball?
d.) How much work has been done on the ball?
e.) Is the work done on the ball recoverable?
S12 A car having a mass of 500 kg is initially at rest. A constant 1,000 N net force acts on the
car over a distance of 50 m, causing the car to speed up. After the car travels 50 m, it
moves with constant velocity.
a.) What is the total work done on the car over the 50 m distance it travels while
speeding up?
b.) How fast is the car moving after 50 m?
c.) What is the net force on the car while its moving with constant velocity?
d.) What is the total work done on the car while its moving with constant velocity?

Solutions to problems on work and energy

S10 We'll use the abreviation KE to refer to kinetic energy.
a.) Initially, the car has a speed of 80 km/hr so has a KE of 1/2 Mv2; we need to be sure to
convert the speed into SI units. After 50 m, the car is at rest, so its KE is zero.

b.) The total work done on the car (the work done by the net force) equals the change in KE.
total work done on car = Fnetd = Fnet x 50 m
total work done on car = change in KE
-> Fnet = -1.2 x 105J / 50 m = -2.4 x 103 N
c.) The force on the car causing it to stop is applied at the only point of contact the car has -the ground! The ground pushes on the car opposite to the car's motion (that's the meaning of
the minus sign above), causing it to stop. You can tell this, because a car's tires get hot from
the friction forces between them and the road.
d.) The KE of the cars motion is turned into heat energy (the car's tires, the brakes and the
road get hot) so the work done on the car is not recoverable.
S11
a.) The ball's potential energy (PE) gets smaller by an amount Mgh, where h is the height
through which it falls (10 m). This energy change results from the work done on the ball by
gravity. Numerically,
change in PE = -Mgh = -(1.0 kg)(9.8 m/s2)(10 m) = -98 J
b.) We can find the speed in one of two ways. The first way is to realize the ball has a
constant acceleration (9.8 m/s2 downward), and we can then find the time it takes for the ball
to fall. This is harder than the second way. Since the work done by gravity is recoverable we
can say that the PE lost equals the kinetic energy (KE) gained by the ball. Initially, the ball's
KE is zero. So

c.) It's the force of gravity that does work on the ball.
d.) The work done on the ball equals the energy changed from PE to KE, or 98 J.

e.) Technically no, the work done is not increasing the potential energy, it is decreasing it! We
haven't converted energy into a form that we can tap into again.
S12
a.) The total work done on the car is the work done by the net force.
total work = Fnetd = (1,000 N)(50 m) = 5 x 104J
b.) The total work changes the car's kinetic energy (KE). Initially, the car is at rest, so its KE
is zero. After traveling a distance of 50 m, the car moves with some unknown speed v, so

c.) When the car moves with constant velocity, its acceleration is zero. By Newton's second
law, this means that the net force is zero.
d.) The total work is the work done by the net force. After 50 m, the car moves with constant
velocity so the net force is zero. This means that the total work done on the car after 50 m is
zero. Another way to see this is that the car's speed, hence its KE, isn't changing. This means
the total work is zero.
Rossing 1.10 Calculate the kinetic energy (KE) of a 1500-kg automobile with a speed of 30
m/s. If it accelerates to this speed in 20 s, what average power has been developed?
KE = 1/2 Mv2 = 1/2 (1500 kg)(30 m/s)2 = 6.8 x 105 J
The total work done equals 6.8 x 105 J; i.e., this is the change in kinetic energy. The average
power is the total work divided by the time interval, or average power = 6.8 x 105 J / 20 s =
3.4 x 104 W