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PhysicsClass 11WORK, ENERGY AND POWER

WORK, ENERGY AND POWER | Class 11 Physics Notes

By ConceptScroll Team · Published on 17 July 2026 · 5 min read

WORK, ENERGY AND POWER – this guide gives you a concise, exam-ready overview of WORK, ENERGY AND POWER from Class 11 Physics, written by ConceptScroll editors and reviewed against the latest NCERT textbook.

5.7 The Concept of Potential Energy

Potential energy is introduced as the 'stored energy' by virtue of the position or configuration of a body in a force field, especially conservative forces. The term 'potential' reflects the capacity for action. Examples include a stretched bow-string storing energy that converts to kinetic energy when released, and fault lines in the earth's crust storing energy that causes earthquakes when released. The gravitational potential energy near the earth's surface is defined as V(h) = m g h, where h is height, m is mass, and g is acceleration due to gravity (assumed constant near the surface). The work done by an external agent against gravity to raise a body is stored as potential energy. The gravitational force is the negative gradient of potential energy, F = -dV/dh = -m g, indicating it acts downward. The section emphasizes that potential energy is defined only for conservative forces, where work done depends only on initial and final positions, not on the path taken. The change in potential energy ΔV equals the negative of work done by the force, ΔV = -F Δx. This concept leads to the principle of conservation of mechanical energy, where potential energy converts to kinetic energy and vice versa without loss in an ideal system.

📊 Diagram: No specific diagrams; conceptual explanation of potential energy and forces.

🧪 Activity: No specific activity; conceptual foundation for next section on conservation of mechanical energy.

🔗 Connection: Leads to section 5.8 discussing conservation of mechanical energy using potential and kinetic energy.

Frequently asked questions

5.1 The sign of work done by a force on a body is important to understand. State carefully if the following quantities are positive or negative: (a) work done by a man in lifting a bucket out of a well by means of a rope tied to the bucket. (b) work done by gravitational force in the above case, (c) work done by friction on a body sliding down an inclined plane, (d) work done by an applied force on a body moving on a rough horizontal plane with uniform velocity, (e) work done by the resistive force of air on a vibrating pendulum in bringing it to rest.

Solution: (a) Work done by the man in lifting the bucket is positive because the force applied by the man and the displacement of the bucket are in the same direction (upwards).

(b) Work done by gravitational force is negative because gravity acts downward while the displacement is upward.

(c) Work done by friction on a body sliding down an inclined plane is negative because friction opposes the motion.

(d) Work done by an applied force on a body moving with uniform velocity on a rough horizo

5.2 A body of mass 2 kg initially at rest moves under the action of an applied horizontal force of 7 N on a table with coefficient of kinetic friction = 0.1. Compute the (a) work done by the applied force in 10 s, (b) work done by friction in 10 s, (c) work done by the net force on the body in 10 s, (d) change in kinetic energy of the body in 10 s, and interpret your results.

Given: Mass, m = 2 kg Applied force, F = 7 N Coefficient of kinetic friction, μ = 0.1 Time, t = 10 s

Step 1: Calculate friction force: Normal force, N = mg = 2 × 9.8 = 19.6 N Friction force, f = μN = 0.1 × 19.6 = 1.96 N

Step 2: Calculate net force: Net force, F_net = Applied force - friction = 7 - 1.96 = 5.04 N

Step 3: Calculate acceleration: a = F_net / m = 5.04 / 2 = 2.52 m/s²

Step 4: Calculate displacement in 10 s: s = ut + 0.5 a t² = 0 + 0.5 × 2.52 × 100 = 126 m

(a) Work done by applied

5.3 Given in Fig. 5.11 are examples of some potential energy functions in one dimension. The total energy of the particle is indicated by a cross on the ordinate axis. In each case, specify the regions, if any, in which the particle cannot be found for the given energy. Also, indicate the minimum total energy the particle must have in each case. Think of simple physical contexts for which these potential energy shapes are relevant.

Solution: For each potential energy graph:

  • The particle cannot be found in regions where potential energy V(x) > total energy E, because kinetic energy K = E - V(x) would be negative, which is impossible.
  • Minimum total energy is the lowest point on the potential energy curve.

Physical contexts:

  • Parabolic potential (harmonic oscillator) corresponds to mass on a spring.
  • Potential wells correspond to bound states in quantum mechanics or classical particles trapped in a potential.
  • Potenti
5.4 The potential energy function for a particle executing linear simple harmonic motion is given by $V(x) = kx^2 / 2$ , where $k$ is the force constant of the oscillator. For $k = 0.5\mathrm{Nm}^{-1}$ , the graph of $V(x)$ versus $x$ is shown in Fig. 5.12. Show that a particle of total energy 1 J moving under this potential must 'turn back' when it reaches $x = \pm 2\mathrm{m}$ .

Given: Potential energy, V(x) = (k x^2)/2 k = 0.5 N/m Total energy, E = 1 J

At turning points, kinetic energy K = 0, so total energy E = potential energy V(x).

Calculate V(x) at x = 2 m: V(2) = 0.5 × (2)^2 / 2 = 0.5 × 4 / 2 = 1 J

Since V(2) = E, the particle cannot go beyond x = ±2 m because beyond this point potential energy would exceed total energy, making kinetic energy negative.

Hence, the particle turns back at x = ±2 m.

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