5.2 NOTIONS OF WORK AND KINETIC to be proportional to the speed of the drop ENERGY: THE WORK-ENERGY THEOREM but is otherwise undetermined. Consider The following relation for rectilinear motion under a drop of mass 1.00 g falling from a height constant acceleration a has been encountered 1.00 km. It hits the ground with a speed of in Chapter 3, 50.0 m s-1. (a) What is the work done by the v2 − u2 = 2 as (5.2) gravitational force ? What is the work done where u and v are the initial and final speeds by the unknown resistive force? and s the distance traversed. Multiplying both Answer (a) The change in kinetic energy of the sides by m/2, we have drop is 1 2 1 2 1 2 mv − mu = mas = Fs (5.2a) ∆ K = m v − 0 2 2 2 where the last step follows from Newton’s Second 1 -3 = × 10 × 50 × 50 Law. We can generalise Eq. (5.2) to three 2 dimensions by employing vectors = 1.25 J v2 − u2 = 2 a.d where we have assumed that the drop is initially at rest. Here a and d are acceleration and displacement Assuming that g is a constant with a value vectors of the object respectively. 10 m/s2, the work done by the gravitational force Once again multiplying both sides by m/2 , we obtain is, 1 1 mv 2 − mu 2 = m a.d = F.d (5.2b) Wg = mgh 2 2 = 10-3 ×10 ×103 The above equation provides a motivation for = 10.0 J the definitions of work and kinetic energy. The (b) From the work-energy theorem left side of the equation is the difference in the quantity ‘half the mass times the square of the ∆ K = W g + W r speed’ from its initial value to its final value. We where Wr is the work done by the resistive force call each of these quantities the ‘kinetic energy’, on the raindrop. Thus denoted by K. The right side is a product of the Wr = ∆K − Wg displacement and the component of the force = 1.25 −10 along the displacement. This quantity is called = − 8.75 J ‘work’ and is denoted by W. Eq. (5.2b) is then is negative. ⊳ Kf − Ki = W (5.3) 5.3 WORK where Ki and Kf are respectively the initial and As seen earlier, work is related to force and the final kinetic energies of the object. Work refers displacement over which it acts. Consider a to the force and the displacement over which it constant force F acting on an object of mass m. acts. Work is done by a force on the body over The object undergoes a displacement d in the a certain displacement. positive x-direction as shown in Fig. 5.2. Equation (5.2) is also a special case of the work-energy (WE) theorem : The change in kinetic energy of a particle is equal to the work done on it by the net force. We shall generalise the above derivation to a varying force in a later section. ⊳ Example 5.2 It is well known that a raindrop falls under the influence of the Fig. 5.2 An object undergoes a displacement d downward gravitational force and the under the influence of the force F. opposing resistive force. The latter is known Reprint 2025-26 74 PHYSICS The work done by the force is defined to be Table 5.1 Alternative Units of Work/Energy in J the product of component of the force in the direction of the displacement and the magnitude of this displacement. Thus W = (F cos θ)d = F.d (5.4) We see that if there is no displacement, there is no work done even if the force is large. Thus, when you push hard against a rigid brick wall, ⊳ the force you exert on the wall does no work. Yet Example 5.3 A cyclist comes to a skidding your muscles are alternatively contracting and stop in 10 m. During this process, the force relaxing and internal energy is being used up on the cycle due to the road is 200 N and and you do get tired. Thus, the meaning of work is directly opposed to the motion. (a) How in physics is different from its usage in everyday much work does the road do on the cycle ? language. (b) How much work does the cycle do on the road ? No work is done if : (i) the displacement is zero as seen in the example above. A weightlifter holding a 150 Answer Work done on the cycle by the road is kg mass steadily on his shoulder for 30 s the work done by the stopping (frictional) force does no work on the load during this time. on the cycle due to the road. (ii) the force is zero. A block moving on a smooth (a) The stopping force and the displacement make horizontal table is not acted upon by a an angle of 180o (π rad) with each other. horizontal force (since there is no friction), but Thus, work done by the road, may undergo a large displacement. Wr = Fd cosθ (iii) the force and displacement are mutually = 200 × 10 × cos π perpendicular. This is so since, for θ= π/2 rad = – 2000 J (= 90o), cos (π/2) = 0. For the block moving on It is this negative work that brings the cycle a smooth horizontal table, the gravitational to a halt in accordance with WE theorem. force mg does no work since it acts at right (b) From Newton’s Third Law an equal and angles to the displacement. If we assume that opposite force acts on the road due to the the moon’s orbits around the earth is cycle. Its magnitude is 200 N. However, the perfectly circular then the earth’s road undergoes no displacement. Thus, gravitational force does no work. The moon’s work done by cycle on the road is zero. ⊳ instantaneous displacement is tangential while the earth’s force is radially inwards and The lesson of Example 5.3 is that though the θ = π/2. force on a body A exerted by the body B is always Work can be both positive and negative. If θ is equal and opposite to that on B by A (Newton’s between 0o and 90o, cos θ in Eq. (5.4) is positive. Third Law); the work done on A by B is not If θ is between 90o and 180o, cos θ is negative. necessarily equal and opposite to the work done In many examples the frictional force opposes on B by A. displacement and θ = 180o. Then the work done 5.4 KINETIC ENERGY by friction is negative (cos 180o = –1). As noted earlier, if an object of mass m has From Eq. (5.4) it is clear that work and energy velocity v, its kinetic energy K ishave the same dimensions, [ML2T–2]. The SI unit of these is joule (J), named after the famous British 1 1 2physicist James Prescott Joule (1811-1869). Since K = m v. v = mv (5.5) 2 2work and energy are so widely used as physical concepts, alternative units abound and some of Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity. The kinetic these are listed in Table 5.1. energy of an object is a measure of the work an Reprint 2025-26 WORK, ENERGY AND POWER 75 Table 5.2 Typical kinetic energies (K) object can do by the virtue of its motion. This This is illustrated in Fig. 5.3(a). Adding notion has been intuitively known for a long time. successive rectangular areas in Fig. 5.3(a) we The kinetic energy of a fast flowing stream get the total work done as has been used to grind corn. Sailing x f ships employ the kinetic energy of the wind. Table W ≅ F (x )∆x (5.6) ∑

8.2 STRESS AND STRAIN forces are applied parallel to the cross-sectional When forces are applied on a body in such a area of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 8.1(b), manner that the body is still in static equilibrium, there is relative displacement between the it is deformed to a small or large extent depending opposite faces of the cylinder. The restoring force upon the nature of the material of the body and per unit area developed due to the applied the magnitude of the deforming force. The tangential force is known as tangential or deformation may not be noticeable visually in shearing stress. many materials but it is there. When a body is As a result of applied tangential force, there subjected to a deforming force, a restoring force is a relative displacement ∆x between opposite is developed in the body. This restoring force is faces of the cylinder as shown in the Fig. 8.1(b). equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to The strain so produced is known as shearing the applied force. The restoring force per unit area strain and it is defined as the ratio of relative is known as stress. If F is the force applied normal displacement of the faces ∆x to the length of the to the cross–section and A is the area of cross cylinder L. section of the body, ∆x Magnitude of the stress = F/A (8.1) Shearing strain = = tan θ (8.3) L The SI unit of stress is N m–2 or pascal (Pa) and its dimensional formula is [ ML–1T–2 ]. where θ is the angular displacement of the There are three ways in which a solid may cylinder from the vertical (original position of the change its dimensions when an external force cylinder). Usually θ is very small, tan θ acts on it. These are shown in Fig. 8.1. In is nearly equal to angle θ, (if θ = 10°, for Fig.8.1(a), a cylinder is stretched by two equal example, there is only 1% difference between θ forces applied normal to its cross-sectional area. and tan θ). The restoring force per unit area in this case is It can also be visualised, when a book is called tensile stress. If the cylinder is pressed with the hand and pushed horizontally, compressed under the action of applied forces, as shown in Fig. 8.2 (c). the restoring force per unit area is known as Thus, shearing strain = tan θ ≈ θ (8.4) compressive stress. Tensile or compressive In Fig. 8.1 (d), a solid sphere placed in the fluid stress can also be termed as longitudinal stress. under high pressure is compressed uniformly on In both the cases, there is a change in the all sides. The force applied by the fluid acts in length of the cylinder. The change in the length perpendicular direction at each point of the ∆L to the original length L of the body (cylinder surface and the body is said to be under in this case) is known as longitudinal strain. hydraulic compression. This leads to decrease (a) (b) (c) (d) Fig. 8.1 (a) A cylindrical body under tensile stress elongates by ∆L (b) Shearing stress on a cylinder deforming it by an angle θ(c) A body subjected to shearing stress (d) A solid body under a stress normal to the surface at every point (hydraulic stress). The volumetric strain is ∆V/V, but there is no change in shape. Reprint 2025-26 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS 169 in its volume without any change of its compression and shear stress may also be geometrical shape. obtained. The stress-strain curves vary from The body develops internal restoring forces material to material. These curves help us to that are equal and opposite to the forces applied understand how a given material deforms with by the fluid (the body restores its original shape increasing loads. From the graph, we can see and size when taken out from the fluid). The that in the region between O to A, the curve is internal restoring force per unit area in this case linear. In this region, Hooke’s law is obeyed. is known as hydraulic stress and in magnitude The body regains its original dimensions when is equal to the hydraulic pressure (applied force the applied force is removed. In this region, the per unit area). solid behaves as an elastic body. The strain produced by a hydraulic pressure is called volume strain and is defined as the ratio of change in volume (∆V) to the original volume (V). ∆V Volume strain = (8.5) V Since the strain is a ratio of change in dimension to the original dimension, it has no units or dimensional formula.

2.5 A parallel plate capacitor with air between the plates has a capacitance of 8 pF (1pF = 10–12 F). What will be the capacitance if the distance between the plates is reduced by half, and the space between them is filled with a substance of dielectric constant 6?