Work, Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy
6.1 The Important Stuff 6.1.1 Kinetic Energy
For an object with mass m and speed v, the kinetic energy is defined as K = 1mv2
2
(6.1)
Kinetic energy is a scalar (it has magnitude but no direction); it is always a positive number; and it has SI units of kg · m2/s2. This new combination of the basic SI units is
known as the joule:
As we will see, the joule is also the unit of work W and potential energy U. Other energy
1joule = 1J = 1 kg·m2 (6.2) s2
units often seen are:
6.1.2 Work
1erg=1g·cm2 =10−7J 1eV=1.60×10−19J s2
When an object moves while a force is being exerted on it, then work is being done on the object by the force.
If an object moves through a displacement d while a constant force F is acting on it, the force does an amount of work equal to
W =F·d=Fdcosφ (6.3)
where φ is the angle between d and F.