Question 1. Look at the activities listed below. Reason out whether or not work is done in the light of your understanding of the term ‘work’.
(a) Suma is swimming in a pond
Answer: Here, the direction of force applied by water and direction of displacement of Suma are in same direction. Hence, work is done in this case.
(b) A donkey is carrying a load on its back.
Answer: Here, force and displacement are in mutually perpendicular directions. Hence, work is not done in this case.
(c) A wind-mill is lifting water from a well.
Answer: The wind mill is applying force in upward direction. Displacement of water is also in upward direction. Hence, work is done in this case.
(d) A green plant is carrying out photosynthesis.
Answer: No displacement is happening and no force is being applied during photosynthesis. Hence, no work is done in this case.
(e) An engine is pulling a train.
Answer: The force applied by the engine and displacement of train are in same direction. Hence, work is done in this case.
(f) Food grains are getting dried in the sun.
Answer: No force is being applied and no displacement is taking place during this process. Hence, no work is done in this case.
(g) A sailboat is moving due to wind energy.
Answer: The wind energy is applying force on the sail, and sailboat is propelled in the direction of force. Hence, work is done in this case.
Question 2. An object thrown at a certain angle to the ground moves in a curved path and falls back to the ground. The initial and the final points of the path of the object lie on the same horizontal line. What is the work done by the force of gravity on the object?
Answer: Force of gravity is being applied in downward direction, but displacement is in horizontal direction. Hence, no work is done in this case.
Question 3. A battery lights a bulb. Describe the energy changes involved in the process.
Answer: Chemical energy changes to electrical energy in the battery. Electrical energy changes to heat and light energy in the bulb.
Question 4. Certain force acting on a 20 kg mass changes its velocity from 5 m s–1 to 2 m s–1. Calculate the work done by the force.
Answer: Given; m = 20 kg, u = 5 m/s and v = 2 m/s
Kinetic energy when velocity is
Kinetic energy when velocity is
Difference
So, work done is – 210 J (Work done is negative because kinetic energy has reduced.
Question 5. A mass of 10 kg is at a point A on a table. It is moved to a point B. If the line joining A and B is horizontal, what is the work done on the object by the gravitational force? Explain your answer.
Answer: Here, direction of gravitational force and that of displacement are perpendicular to each other. Hence, no work is done in this case.
Question 6. The potential energy of a freely falling object decreases progressively. Does this violate the law of conservation of energy? Why?
Answer: When an object is in free fall, its potential energy decreases progressively. At the same time, the kinetic energy of the object increases progressively. At any given time, the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy is constant. Thus, it obeys the law of conservation of energy.
Question 7. What are the various energy transformations that occur when you are riding a bicycle?
Answer: The chemical energy from food is converted to kinetic energy while someone pedals the bicycle. This energy is then transferred to the wheels of the bicycle.
Chemical energy (food) → Muscular energy → Kinetic energy + Heat Energy
Question 8. Does the transfer of energy take place when you push a huge rock with all your might and fail to move it? Where is the energy you spend going?
Answer: When we push a huge rock but the rock does not move, no energy is transferred to the rock. Here; the muscular energy is converted into heat energy which is evident from the rise in temperature of our body while doing so.
Question 9. A certain household has consumed 250 units of energy during a month. How much energy is this in joules?
Answer: 1 unit of energy = 1 kWh
So,
Question 10. An object of mass 40 kg is raised to a height of 5 m above the ground. What is its potential energy? If the object is allowed to fall, find its kinetic energy when it is half-way down.
Answer: Given; m = 40 kg, h = 5 m
Potential Energy = mgh
At halfway down, i.e. at the height of 2.5 m, the potential energy = 1960 J/2 = 980 J
At halfway down, kinetic energy = potential energy because of the law of conservation of energy.
Hence, kinetic energy at halfway down = 980 J
Question 11. What is the work done by the force of gravity on a satellite moving round the earth? Justify your answer.
Answer: The direction of force of gravity and direction of displacement of satellite are perpendicular to each other. Hence, work done is zero in this case.
Question 12. Can there be displacement of an object in the absence of any force acting on it? Think. Discuss this question with your friends and teacher.
Answer: When an object is in uniform motion, no external force is acting on the object. In this situation, displacement is non-zero even in the absence of a force.
Question 13. A person holds a bundle of hay over his head for 30 minutes and gets tired. Has he done some work or not? Justify your answer.
Answer: While holding a bundle over his head, the person does not cause displacement in the bundle. Hence, work done is zero.
Question 14. An electric heater is rated 1500 W. How much energy does it use in 10 hours?
Answer: Given; P = 1500 W and t = 10 h
Energy consumed
Question 15. Illustrate the law of conservation of energy by discussing the energy changes which occur when we draw a pendulum bob to one side and allow it to oscillate. Why does the bob eventually come to rest? What happens to its energy eventually? Is it a violation of the law of conservation of energy?
Answer: Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy cannot be created and cannot be destroyed. We can only change one form of energy into another form.
Let us take the case of a simple pendulum. Its mean position is O and extreme positions are A and B.
When the pendulum moves to point A, it reaches the maximum height. At this stage, the potential energy of the bob is maximum and kinetic energy is zero.
When the pendulum moves to point O, it reaches its mean position. At this stage, the kinetic energy of the bob is maximum and potential energy is zero.
In both the cases, the sum of kinetic energy and potential energy remains constant. Thus, the pendulum obeys the law of conservation of energy.
But the pendulum does not keep on oscillating forever. It eventually comes to rest. This happens because of air resistance. Some of the energy of the bob is utilized in overcoming the air resistance. This energy is taken up by the surrounding. In this case also, the total energy of the system remains constant. Hence, it does not violate the law of conservation of energy.
Question 16. An object of mass, m is moving with a constant velocity, v. How much work should be done on the object in order to bring the object to rest?
Answer: Given; mass = m and velocity = v
Hence, kinetic energy
Work that needs to be done to bring the object to rest = kinetic energy
Question 17. Calculate the work required to be done to stop a car of 1500 kg moving at a velocity of 60 km/h?
Answer: Given; m = 1500 kg and v = 60 km/h = 16.67 m/s
Kinetic energy
Work that needs to be done to bring the car to rest
Question 18. In each of the following a force, F is acting on an object of mass, m. The direction of displacement is from west to east shown by the longer arrow. Observe the diagrams carefully and state whether the work done by the force is negative, positive or zero.
Answer: In the first figure; direction of force is perpendicular to direction of displacement. Hence, work done is zero.
In the second figure, direction of force is same as direction of displacement. Hence, work done is positive.
In the third figure, direction of force is opposite to direction of displacement. Hence, work done is negative.
Question 19. Soni says that the acceleration in an object could be zero even when several forces are acting on it. Do you agree with her? Why?
Answer: When all the forces acting on an object cancel out each other; the net force becomes zero. In this situation, acceleration in the object will be zero.
Question 20. Find the energy in kW h consumed in 10 hours by four devices of power 500 W each.
Answer: Given; P = 500 W, t = 10 h and number of devices = 4
Energy consumed
Question 21. A freely falling object eventually stops on reaching the ground. What happens to its kinetic energy?
Answer: When a free falling object hits the ground, its potential energy becomes zero and its kinetic energy becomes maximum. The kinetic energy changes into heat and sound energy while the object comes to rest.