Work Hard, Play Hard

How It Works?

Joule (J) is the unit of work. Applying a force on an object of 1 Newton (N)
that moves 1 meter is one (1) Joule of work.

Joule comes from an English Physicist whose name is James Prescott Joule who established
the relationship between mechanical work and heat transfer. His study led to discovery of
the law of conservation of energy. After a year of experiment, he made an experiment that
led to the discovery of the first law of thermodynamics. Hence, the SI unit for measuring
energy was names after him.
 Consider the table below. It is the result of an experiment using work (W),
displacement (), and force (F).
F, Force (Newton) , Displacement (meter) W, Work (Joule)
1 1 1
1 2 2
1 5 5
2 1 2
5 1 5
2 2 4
5 5 25

In each case, by multiplying the force applied to the displacement made by the
object is the amount of work done that the calculated and is expressed as:

where F is the applied force in Newton

is the displacement of the object in meters (m)
W is the work done in Joules (J)
Sample Problem
1. How much work is done by a power lifter that pushes a car with a force
of 800 N at a distance of 200 m?

Given:
= 800
= 200

=
= 800 200
= 160,000
Or 1.6 x 105 J
2. How much work is done by a force of friction is a man pushes
a refrigerator across a floor with a distance of 1.2 and a 350 N
force of friction that opposes the motion of the refrigerator.

Given:
= 350
= 1.2

=
= 350 1.2
= 420
Or - 420 J

The direction of work done brought about friction is a negative sign.

Seatwork: In yellow sheet
1. How much work is done by a force of 20 N that was applied
to push a package of 8.0 m along the floor?
2. How much work is done on the block of a 2.0 kg block was
accelerated at 5.0 m/s2 with a distance of 0.50 m across a
frictionless table?
3. How much work is done by the tractor if a large rock is
pushed with a force of 5000 N at 2.0 m/s for 20 seconds
Power

The rate at which work is performed or work per unit change of time is
defined as power. Joule per second or Watt is the unit of power 1 J/s = 1 W which
can be expressed as:

=

where W is work performed in Joules

is change in the interval of time in second

James Watts role during the Industrial Revolution was important. In transforming
the world from the traditional steam engine to the one that uses engineering and
technology. Because of his contribution, he was recognized in the unit of power as Watt.
Sample Problem

1. Determine the power of a heavy equipment that performes

5.5 x 104 J of work in 1.1 seconds.

Given:
= 5.5 104 Joules
= 1.1
Solve for P = ?

=

5.5 104 Joules
=
1.1
5.0 104
2. Determine the power performed by a 60-kg man running up
the stairs with a height of 4.5 m in 4.0 seconds.
=
= (60 )(9.81 / 2
= 588 / 2
= 588
=
= (588 )(4.5)
= 2646

=

2646 J
=
4.0
= 661.5
Seatwork: In yellow sheet

1. Calculate the power needed by a winch that makes 6.6 x 102

Joules of work in 5 minutes.
2. Calculate the time needed for a 2.5 kilowatt electric motor
that performs 7.5 x 104 Joules of applied work.
3. Solve the work done by a 500 W electric mixer in 2.5 minutes.
4. Calculate the power made by a 50-kg boy running up the
stairs with a height of 3 m in 2.50 s.
Kilowatt-Hour
The amount of work done by power of 1 kW in 1 hour is called kilowatt
hour. For example, to calculate the work done in 1 hour at a rate of 1 kilowatt, we
use the power equation.

=

Rearrange the equation to solve for work.

To Calculate the work (W) done:

=
P = 1 kW or P = 1000 W
= 1 hr or = 3,600 s
W = P or W = P
= (1 kW)(1 h) = (1,000 W)(3,600 s)
= 1 kWh = 3,600,000 J
1 kWh = 3,600,000J
= 3.6 MJ
Sample Problem

How much work is done in kilowatt-hours by a 25 kW water

pumps which is operating continuously for a week.

Given:
P = 25 kW
= (7 24) h
=
= 25 (168 )
= 4,200
Seatwork: In yellow sheet

1. How much work is done in kilowatt-hours by a 6,000 W

electric generator operating 8 hours a day for a year?
2. How many hours will it takes for a 500 W electric drill to work
for 100 kWh?
3. How much power can a machine fo with 600 kWh in 12
hours.