Work,
Energy, and Power
1. Work and the Work-Energy
Theorem
a)
Students should
understand the definition of work so they
can:
(1)
Calculate the work
done by a specified constant force on a body
that undergoes a specified displacement
(2) Relate the work done by a force to the area under a graph of force
as a function of position, and calculate this work in the case where
the force is a linear function of position.
b)
Students should
understand the work-energy theorem so they can:
(1)
Calculate the change
in kinetic energy or speed that results from
performing a specified amount of work on a body.
(2) Calculate the work performed by the net force, or by each of the
forces that makes up the net force, on a body that undergoes a
specified change in speed or kinetic energy.
(3) Apply the theorem to determine the change in a body's kinetic
energy and speed that results from the application of specified forces,
or to determine the force that is required in order to bring a body to
rest in a specified distance.
2. Conservative Forces and
Potential Energy
a)
Students should
understand the concept of potential energy so they can:
(1)
Write an expression
for the force exerted by an ideal spring and
for the potential energy stored in a stretched or compressed spring.
(2) Calculate the potential energy of a single body in a uniform
gravitational field.
3. Conservation of Energy
a)
Students should
understand conservation of energy so they can:
(1)
Identify situations in
which mechanical energy is or is not
conserved.
(2) Apply conservation of energy in analyzing the motion on bodies that
are moving in a gravitational field and are subject to constraints
imposed by strings or surfaces.
(3) Apply conservation of energy in analyzing the motion of bodies that
move under the influence of springs.
4. Power
a)
Students should
understand the definition of power so they can:
(1)
Calculate the power
required to maintain the motion of a body with
constant acceleration. (e.g., to move a body along a level surface, to
raise a body at a constant rate, or to overcome friction for a body
that is moving at a constant speed)
(2) Calculate the work performed by a force that supplied constant
power, or the average power supplied by a force that performs a
specified amount of work.
Made 25 July 2006
by Lori Andersen.
