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Summary

  • Energy can be transferred from one system to another and transformed or converted from one type into another. Some of the basic types of energy are kinetic, potential, thermal, and electromagnetic.
  • Renewable energy sources are those that are replenished by ongoing natural processes, over human time scales. Examples are wind, water, geothermal, and solar power.
  • Non-renewable energy sources are those that are depleted by consumption, over human time scales. Examples are fossil fuel and nuclear power.

Key equations

Difference of potential energy Δ U A B = U B U A = W A B
Potential energy with respect to zero of
potential energy at
r 0 Δ U = U ( r ) U ( r 0 )
Gravitational potential energy near Earth’s surface U ( y ) = m g y + const .
Potential energy for an ideal spring U ( x ) = 1 2 k x 2 + const .
Work done by conservative force over a closed path W closed path = E cons · d r = 0
Condition for conservative force in two dimensions ( d F x d y ) = ( d F y d x )
Conservative force is the negative derivative of potential energy F l = d U d l
Conservation of energy with no
non-conservative forces
0 = W n c , A B = Δ ( K + U ) A B = Δ E A B .

Problems

In the cartoon movie Pocahontas , Pocahontas runs to the edge of a cliff and jumps off, showcasing the fun side of her personality. (a) If she is running at 3.0 m/s before jumping off the cliff and she hits the water at the bottom of the cliff at 20.0 m/s, how high is the cliff? Assume negligible air drag in this cartoon. (b) If she jumped off the same cliff from a standstill, how fast would she be falling right before she hit the water?

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In the reality television show “Amazing Race” , a contestant is firing 12-kg watermelons from a slingshot to hit targets down the field. The slingshot is pulled back 1.5 m and the watermelon is considered to be at ground level. The launch point is 0.3 m from the ground and the targets are 10 m horizontally away. Calculate the spring constant of the slingshot.

8700 N/m

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In the Back to the Future movies , a DeLorean car of mass 1230 kg travels at 88 miles per hour to venture back to the future. (a) What is the kinetic energy of the DeLorian? (b) What spring constant would be needed to stop this DeLorean in a distance of 0.1m?

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In the Hunger Games movie , Katniss Everdeen fires a 0.0200-kg arrow from ground level to pierce an apple up on a stage. The spring constant of the bow is 330 N/m and she pulls the arrow back a distance of 0.55 m. The apple on the stage is 5.00 m higher than the launching point of the arrow. At what speed does the arrow (a) leave the bow? (b) strike the apple?

a. 70.6 m/s; b. 69.9 m/s

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In a “Top Fail” video , two women run at each other and collide by hitting exercise balls together. If each woman has a mass of 50 kg, which includes the exercise ball, and one woman runs to the right at 2.0 m/s and the other is running toward her at 1.0 m/s, (a) how much total kinetic energy is there in the system? (b) If energy is conserved after the collision and each exercise ball has a mass of 2.0 kg, how fast would the balls fly off toward the camera?

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In a Coyote/Road Runner cartoon clip , a spring expands quickly and sends the coyote into a rock. If the spring extended 5 m and sent the coyote of mass 20 kg to a speed of 15 m/s, (a) what is the spring constant of this spring? (b) If the coyote were sent vertically into the air with the energy given to him by the spring, how high could he go if there were no non-conservative forces?

a. 180 N/m; b. 11 m

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Practice Key Terms 2

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Source:  OpenStax, University physics volume 1. OpenStax CNX. Sep 19, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col12031/1.5
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