Chapter 3 – Energy – Questions For Thought

1. How is work related to energy?

Energy has the ability to create a change in an object. This change could involve
a change in an objects velocity or position. To create this change a force needs
to be applied over a distance

2. What is the relationship between the work done while moving a book to a
higher bookshelf and the potential energy that the book has on the higher
shelf?
The work done is equal to the increase in gravitational potential energy

3. Does a person standing motionless in the aisle of a moving bus have

kinetic energy? Explain.
Yes, they do have kinetic energy b/c they are moving at the same speed as the
bus, over the ground.

4. A lamp bulb is rated at 100 W. Why is a time factor not included in the
rating?
B/c a time factor is in the rating. A watt is a unit of power, and power is work per
unit time.

5. Is a kWh a unit of work, energy, power, or more than one of these? Explain.
it is a unit of work, and since energy is the ability to do work, it is also a unit of
energy.

6. If energy cannot be destroyed, why do some people worry about the energy
supplies?
Energy is eventually changed into a radiant energy that can’t be turned into
anything else, so new sources of convertible energy must be found in order to
continue performing useful work.

7. A spring clamp exerts a force on a stack of papers it is holding together. Is

the spring clamp doing work on the papers? Explain.
If the spring clamp does not cause the paper to move, it is not going a distance
and no work is done.

8. Why are petroleum, natural gas, and coal called fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels contain energy from plants or animals that lived millions of years
ago. The plants and stuff have formed the fossils, and the energy in the fuels
come from energy stored in them.

9. From time to time, people claim to have invented a machine that will run
forever without energy input and develops more energy than it uses
(perpetual motion). Why would you have reason to question such a
machine?
 The machine would go against the principle to conserve energy.

10. What is a joule. What is the difference between a joule of work and a joule
of energy?
A joule is one newton-meter. A joule of work is from force acting through a
distance while a joule of energy is the ability to perform one joule of work.

11. Compare the energy needed to raise a mass 10 m on Earth to the energy
needed to raise the same mass 10 m on the Moon. Explain the difference, if
any.
The energy required is less on the moon because the weight of the object (the
downward force due to gravity) depends upon the force of gravity, which is less
on the moon than on the earth. Less energy is needed to do the work of raising
the mass on the moon, and the elevated object on the moon has less potential
energy as a consequence of the work done.

12. What happens to the kinetic energy of a falling book when the book hits the
floor?
The energy is converted to heat and sound.