The Math Behind the Work-Energy Theorem
Previously we saw how Santa and his reindeer team encountered a wind gust which generated enough force to slow them from an initial velocity of v1 to a final velocity, v2, over a distance,…
Work and Energy, Speed, and Calories
In my work as an Engineer I’ve never had to convert Joules of work-energy into calories, but that’s exactly what we’ll be doing together today. Last time we applied the Work-Energy Theorem to the progress…
The Law of Conservation of Energy
Last time we calculated the potential energy hidden within a coffee mug resting on a shelf. The concept of a passive object possessing energy may not be something all readers…
Applying the Work-Energy Theorem to Falling Objects
So far we’ve applied the Work-Energy Theorem to a flying object, namely, Santa’s sleigh, and a rolling object, namely, a car braking to avoid hitting a deer. Here we’ll apply the Theorem to a falling…
The Frictional Force Formula
Last time we discussed the force of friction, another force in our ongoing discussion about changing forms of energy, and we learned that it’s often a counterproductive force which design engineers and…
The Interplay of Work and Kinetic Energy
We’ve been discussing the different forms energy takes, delving deeply into de Coriolis’ claim that energy doesn’t ever die or disappear, it simply changes forms depending on the tasks it’s performing. here we’ll combine mathematical formulas to derive…
Calculating Kinetic Energy By Means of the Work of Friction
My activities as an Engineer often involve creative problem solving of the sort we did in last week’s blog when we explored the interplay between work and kinetic energy. We used the Work-Energy…
Combining Kinetic Energy Formulas to Calculate Velocity
As an engineer, I often use the fact that formulas share a single common factor in order to set them equal to each other, which enables me to solve for…
Sir Isaac Newton and the Acceleration of Gravity
In A previous Topic we watched a video of Astronauts Scott and Irwin simultaneously dropping a hammer and feather to the surface of the Moon and were amazed to find…
Computing Potential Energy
Previous Topic we discovered that objects acquire potential energy as it relates to gravity based on the height those objects are elevated above the ground. We also introduced an equation to…
