Exercise 1: Variable force: work is the area under F(x)
When a constant force moves an object a distance in its own direction, the work is , in joules ( J Nm) or in foot-pounds. When the force CHANGES with the position , the product no longer makes sense: which value of would you multiply by? The answer of the chapter is to cut the path into short pieces on which is almost constant, and to add the pieces: .
Every force below acts along the -axis, in metres and in newtons. The figure shows the force of part d).
- a) A constant force of N pushes a box m along the floor, in the direction of motion. Compute the work, write it as an integral, and say what area it is.
- b) moves a particle from to . Compute the work. Then compute and and explain why the true work must lie between them.
- c) moves a particle from to . Compute the work.
- d) The force is the piecewise linear function of the figure. Find the work done from to , then from to . At which position is the work done since the largest?
- e) . Compute the work from to , then from to , and interpret the second result.
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Answers
- a) J, the area of a rectangle
- b) J, between and
- c) J
- d) J from to ; J from to ; largest at ( J)
- e) J, then J: the force gives back on what it did on
a) The force is constant and along the motion, so J. As an integral, J: the area of the rectangle of width (the path) and height (the force) under the graph of . This is the picture to keep for the whole chapter: work is an AREA under a force-position graph, and the product is only the special case where that area is a rectangle.
b) Cut into pieces of length . On one piece the force is almost , so the work on it is almost , and the Riemann sum tends to . Here J. The two products are and . Since increases on , it stays between and , and the comparison property of the integral gives . The check catches the classic slip, multiplying the FINAL force by the distance ( J), which pretends the force was N all the way.
c) J. The force now decreases from N to N, so this time the bracket is , that is : consistent. The minus sign of the antiderivative is where copies go wrong; a negative work for a force that pushes forward the whole way is the signal.
d) The work is the SIGNED area between the graph and the -axis, read with geometry. On : triangle, . On : rectangle, . So J. On the line goes from down to , with slope , so it crosses zero at : triangle above the axis on , area , and triangle BELOW the axis on , area , counted negative because the force now points backwards. J. The accumulated work has derivative by the Fundamental Theorem: it increases while and decreases once , so it is largest at , where J. Adding the last triangle as ( J) is the trap: work done against the motion is negative.
e) With , : . From to : J, about J with . From to : . The force pushes forward on and backward on , symmetrically, so the net work is zero even though the particle moved m. Forgetting the factor of the substitution gives J instead of : the result is off by the factor , which is not .