Chapter 7

Energy of a System

1
Introduction to Energy
 The concept of energy is one of the most
important topics in science and engineering
 Every physical process that occurs in the
Universe involves energy and energy
transfers or transformations
 Energy is not easily defined

2
Energy Approach to Problems
 The energy approach to describing motion is
particularly useful when Newton’s Laws are
difficult or impossible to use
 An approach will involve changing from a
particle model to a system model
 This can be extended to biological organisms,
technological systems and engineering situations

3
Systems
 A system is a small portion of the Universe
 We will ignore the details of the rest of the
Universe
 A critical skill is to identify the system

4
Valid System Examples
 A valid system may
 be a single object or particle
 be a collection of objects or particles
 be a region of space
 vary in size and shape

5
Problem Solving
 Categorize step of general strategy
 Identify the need for a system approach
 Identify the particular system
 Also identify a system boundary
 An imaginary surface the divides the Universe into the
system and the environment
 Not necessarily coinciding with a real surface
 The environment surrounds the system

6
System Example
 A force applied to an object in empty space
 System is the object
 Its surface is the system boundary
 The force is an influence on the system that acts
across the system boundary

7
Work
 The work, W, done on a system by an agent
exerting a constant force on the system is the
product of the magnitude F of the force, the
magnitude r of the displacement of the point
of application of the force, and cos  where
is the angle between the force and the
displacement vectors

8
Work, cont.
 W = F r cos 
 The displacement is that
of the point of application
of the force
 A force does no work on
the object if the force does
not move through a
displacement
 The work done by a force
on a moving object is zero
when the force applied is
perpendicular to the
displacement of its point of
application

Recall that uniform circular motion. 9

Work Example
 The normal force and
the gravitational force
do no work on the
object
 cos  = cos
 90° = 0
 The force F is the only
force that does work on
the object

10
More About Work
 The system and the agent in the environment doing
the work must both be determined
 The part of the environment interacting directly with the
system does work on the system
 Work by the environment on the system
 Example: Work done by a hammer (interaction from environment) on
a nail (system)
 The sign of the work depends on the direction of the
force relative to the displacement
  in the same
 Work is positive when projection of Fonto ris
direction as the displacement
 Work is negative when the projection is in the opposite
direction
11
Units of Work
 Work is a scalar quantity
 The unit of work is a joule (J)
 1 joule = 1 newton . 1 meter
 J=N·m

12
Work Is An Energy Transfer
 This is important for a system approach to
solving a problem
 If the work is done on a system and it is
positive, energy is transferred to the system
 If the work done on the system is negative,
energy is transferred from the system

13
Work Is An Energy Transfer,
cont
 If a system interacts with its environment, this
interaction can be described as a transfer of
energy across the system boundary
 This will result in a change in the amount of
energy stored in the system

14
Scalar Product of Two Vectors
 The scalar product of
twovectors
 is written
as A  B
 It is also called the dot
product
 
 A  B  A B cos 
 is the angle between A
and B
 Applied to work, this
means  
W  F r cos   F   r
15
Scalar Product, cont
 The
 scalar
  product
 is commutative
 A B  B  A
 The scalar product obeys the distributive law
of multiplication
 
      
 A  B  C  A B  A C

16
Dot Products of Unit Vectors
 ˆi  ˆi  ˆj  ˆj  kˆ  kˆ  1
ˆi  ˆj  ˆi  kˆ  ˆj  kˆ  0
 Using component form with vectors:

A  Ax ˆi  Ay ˆj  Azkˆ

B  Bx ˆi  By ˆj  Bzkˆ
 
A B  Ax Bx  Ay By  Az Bz
17
Work Done by a Varying Force

 Assume that during a very

small displacement, x, F
is constant
 For that displacement,
W ~ F x
 For all of the intervals,
xf
W   Fx x
xi

18
Work Done by a Varying Force,
cont
xf
xf
 lim
x 0  F x  
xi
x xi
Fx dx

xf
 Therefore,W  xi
Fx dx

 The work done is equal

to the area under the
curve between xi and xf

19
Work Done By Multiple Forces
 If more than one force acts on a system and
the system can be modeled as a particle, the
total work done on the system is the work
done by the net force
  F  dx
xf
W  W net 
xi x

 In the general case of a net force whose

magnitude and direction may vary
 
xf  
W  W net 
xi
 F dr 20
Work Done by Multiple Forces,
cont.
 If the system cannot be modeled as a
particle, then the total work is equal to the
algebraic sum of the work done by the
individual forces
Wnet   Wby individual forces
 Remember work is a scalar, so this is the
algebraic sum

21
Work Done By A Spring
 A model of a common
physical system for
which the force varies
with position
 The block is on a
horizontal, frictionless
surface
 Observe the motion of
the block with various
values of the spring
constant
22
Hooke’s Law

 The force exerted by the spring is

Fs = - kx
 x is the position of the block with respect to the equilibrium position (x = 0)
 k is called the spring constant or force constant and measures the
stiffness of the spring
 This is called Hooke’s Law

23
Hooke’s Law, cont.
 When x is positive
(spring is stretched), F
is negative
 When x is 0 (at the
equilibrium position), F
is 0
 When x is negative
(spring is compressed),
F is positive

24
Hooke’s Law, final
 The force exerted by the spring is always
directed opposite to the displacement from
equilibrium
 The spring force is sometimes called the
restoring force
 If the block is released it will oscillate back
and forth between –x and x

25
Work Done by a Spring

 Identify the block as the system

 Calculate the work as the block moves from xi = - xmax to xf = 0
xf 0 1 2
Ws   Fx dx    kx  dx  kxmax
xi  xmax 2
 The total work done as the block moves from
–xmax to xmax is zero

26
Work Done by a Spring, cont.
 Assume the block undergoes an arbitrary
displacement from x = xi to x = xf
 The work done by the spring on the block is
xf 1 2 1 2
Ws    kx  dx  kxi  kxf
xi 2 2
 If the motion ends where it begins, W = 0

27
Spring with an Applied Force
 Suppose an external agent,
Fapp, stretches the spring
 The applied force is equal
and opposite to the spring
force
 Fapp = -Fs = -(-kx) = kx
 Work done by Fapp is equal
to -½ kx2max
 The work done by the
applied force is
xf 1 2 1 2
Wapp    kx  dx  kxf  kxi
xi 2 2
28
Kinetic Energy
 Kinetic Energy is the energy of a particle due
to its motion
 K = ½ mv2
 K is the kinetic energy
 m is the mass of the particle
 v is the speed of the particle
 A change in kinetic energy is one possible
result of doing work to transfer energy into a
system

29
Kinetic Energy, cont
 Calculating the work:
xf xf
W 
xi
 F dx  
xi
ma dx
vf
W   mv dv
vi

1 2 1
 W 
2
mv f 
2
mv 2
i

Wnet  K f  K i  K

30
Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem
 The Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem states W = Kf –
Ki = K
 When work is done on a system and the only
change in the system is in its speed, the work done
by the net force equals the change in kinetic energy
of the system.
 The speed of the system increases if the work done on it is
positive
 The speed of the system decreases if the net work is
negative
 Also valid for changes in rotational speed

31
Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem
– Example

 The normal and

gravitational forces do no
work since they are
perpendicular to the
direction of the
displacement
 W = F x
 W = K = ½ mvf2 - 0

32
Potential Energy
 Potential energy is energy related to the
configuration of a system in which the
components of the system interact by forces
 The forces are internal to the system
 Can be associated with only specific types of
forces acting between members of a system

33
Gravitational Potential Energy
 The system is the Earth
and the book
 Do work on the book by
lifting it slowly through a
vertical displacement

 r  yˆj
 The work done on the
system must appear as
an increase in the
energy of the system
34
Gravitational Potential Energy,
cont
 There is no change in kinetic energy since
the book starts and ends at rest
 Gravitational potential energy is the energy
associated with an object at a given location
above the surface of the Earth
 
 
W  Fapp   r

W  (mgˆj)   y f  y i  ˆj

W  mgy f  mgy i 35
Gravitational Potential Energy,
final
 The quantity mgy is identified as the
gravitational potential energy, Ug
 Ug = mgy
 Units are joules (J)
 Is a scalar
 Work may change the gravitational potential
energy of the system
 Wnet = Ug

36
Gravitational Potential Energy,
Problem Solving
 The gravitational potential energy depends only on
the vertical height of the object above Earth’s
surface
 In solving problems, you must choose a reference
configuration for which the gravitational potential
energy is set equal to some reference value,
normally zero
 The choice is arbitrary because you normally need the
difference in potential energy, which is independent of the
choice of reference configuration

37
Elastic Potential Energy
 Elastic Potential Energy is associated with a
spring
 The force the spring exerts (on a block, for example)
is Fs = - kx
 The work done by an external applied force on a
spring-block system is
 W = ½ kxf2 – ½ kxi2
 The work is equal to the difference between the initial and
final values of an expression related to the configuration of
the system

38
Elastic Potential Energy, cont
 This expression is the
elastic potential energy:
Us = ½ kx2
 The elastic potential energy
can be thought of as the
energy stored in the
deformed spring
 The stored potential energy
can be converted into
kinetic energy
 Observe the effects of
different amounts of
compression of the spring
39
Elastic Potential Energy, final
 The elastic potential energy stored in a spring is
zero whenever the spring is not deformed (U = 0
when x = 0)
 The energy is stored in the spring only when the spring is
stretched or compressed
 The elastic potential energy is a maximum when the
spring has reached its maximum extension or
compression
 The elastic potential energy is always positive
 x2 will always be positive

40
Energy Bar Chart
 In a, there is no energy
 The spring is relaxed
 The block is not moving
 By b, the hand has done
work on the system
 The spring is compressed
 There is elastic potential
energy in the system
 By c, the elastic potential
energy of the spring has
been transformed into
kinetic energy of the block
41
Internal Energy
 The energy associated with
an object’s temperature is
called its internal energy,
Eint
 In this example, the surface
is the system
 The friction does work and
increases the internal
energy of the surface

42
Conservative Forces
 The work done by a conservative force on a
particle moving between any two points is
independent of the path taken by the particle
 The work done by a conservative force on a
particle moving through any closed path is
zero
 A closed path is one in which the beginning and
ending points are the same

43
Conservative Forces, cont
 Examples of conservative forces:
 Gravity
 Spring force
 We can associate a potential energy for a system
with any conservative force acting between
members of the system
 This can be done only for conservative forces
 In general: WC = - U

44
Nonconservative Forces
 A nonconservative force does not satisfy the
conditions of conservative forces
 Nonconservative forces acting in a system
cause a change in the mechanical energy of
the system

45
Nonconservative Forces, cont
 The work done against
friction is greater along
the brown path than
along the blue path
 Because the work done
depends on the path,
friction is a
nonconservative force

46
Conservative Forces and
Potential Energy
 Define a potential energy function, U, such
that the work done by a conservative force
equals the decrease in the potential energy of
the system
 The work done by such a force, F, is
xf
WC   Fx dx  U
xi

 U is negative when F and x are in the same

direction
47
Conservative Forces and
Potential Energy
 The conservative force is related to the potential
energy function through
dU
Fx  
dx
 The x component of a conservative force acting on
an object within a system equals the negative of the
potential energy of the system with respect to x
 Can be extended to three dimensions

48
Conservative Forces and
Potential Energy – Check
 Look at the case of a deformed spring
dUs d 1 2
Fs      kx   kx
dx dx  2 
 This is Hooke’s Law and confirms the equation for
U
 U is an important function because a
conservative force can be derived from it

49
Energy Diagrams and
Equilibrium

 Motion in a system can be observed in terms of a graph of its

position and energy
 In a spring-mass system example, the block oscillates
between the turning points, x = ±xmax
 The block will always accelerate back toward x = 0

50
Energy Diagrams and Stable
Equilibrium
 The x = 0 position is one of
stable equilibrium
 Configurations of stable
equilibrium correspond to
those for which U(x) is a
minimum
 x = xmax and x = -xmax are
called the turning points

51
Energy Diagrams and Unstable
Equilibrium
 Fx = 0 at x = 0, so the
particle is in equilibrium
 For any other value of x, the
particle moves away from
the equilibrium position
 This is an example of
unstable equilibrium
 Configurations of unstable
equilibrium correspond to
those for which U(x) is a
maximum

52
Neutral Equilibrium
 Neutral equilibrium occurs in a configuration
when U is constant over some region
 A small displacement from a position in this
region will produce neither restoring nor
disrupting forces

53
Potential Energy in Molecules
 There is potential energy associated with the
force between two neutral atoms in a
molecule which can be modeled by the
Lennard-Jones function
  12   6 
U ( x )  4       
 x   x  

 x: separation of the atoms

54
Potential Energy Curve of a
Molecule

 Find the minimum of the function (take the derivative and set
it equal to 0) to find the separation for stable equilibrium
 The graph of the Lennard-Jones function shows the most
likely separation between the atoms in the molecule (at
minimum energy)

55