AP MECHANICS -C LEARNING OBJECTIVE CON 1.C -Describe the force within a system and the potential energy of a system. In the last section, we derived a relationship between force F(x) and potential energy U(x). In order to use the relationship, we will need to know the exact function of either U(x) or F(x) and then use calculus to obtain the other. In this section, we will take a visual approach...
Relation between potential energy U and conservative force F
AP MECHANICS -C LEARNING OBJECTIVE CON 1.B -Derive an expression that represents the relationship between a conservative force acting in a system on an object to the potential energy of the system using the methods of calculus. 1.F -Derive an expression for the gravitational potential energy of a system consisting of a satellite or large mass (e.g., an asteroid) and the Earth at a great distance...
Potential energy function U(x) in one dimension
AP MECHANICS -C LEARNING OBJECTIVE CON 1.C -Describe the force within a system and the potential energy of a system. So far we have seen that a potential energy function U(x) can be found in the cases where conservative forces are acting in the system. We proved that in such cases the work done by the forces in a closed loop is always zero. For a one-dimensional case where the U varies only as a...
Calculating elastic potential energy
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3.3.A - Describe the potential energy of a system. AP MECHANICS -C LEARNING OBJECTIVE CON 1.D -Derive the expression for the potential energy function of an ideal spring. In the last section, we derived an expression to calculate the numerical value of kinetic energy. Let’s now derive expressions for potential energy associated with two of the forces we will be frequently...
Conservative and non-conservative forces
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3.4.C - Describe how the selection of a system determines whether the energy of that system changes. AP MECHANICS -C LEARNING OBJECTIVE CON 1.A -Compare conservative and dissipative forces. Describe the role of a conservative force or a dissipative force in a dynamic system. In the last section, we looked at the case of motion of a ball in the gravitational field and concluded...
Another way of storing work – Potential energy
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3.3.A - Describe the potential energy of a system. AP MECHANICS -C LEARNING OBJECTIVE CON 1.B -Explain how the general relationship between potential energy functions and conservative forces is used to determine relationships between the two physical quantities. In the last section, we introduced the idea of kinetic energy. Kinetic energy stores work by virtue of motion...