1 00:00:03,420 --> 00:00:07,030 We're now going to introduce the concept of potential energy. 2 00:00:07,030 --> 00:00:08,850 Let's begin by considering a system where 3 00:00:08,850 --> 00:00:11,480 a conservative force is acting. 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:21,780 So I'll consider a conservative force, which I'll call F sub c. 5 00:00:21,780 --> 00:00:27,610 So force set to force, the work integral is path independent. 6 00:00:27,610 --> 00:00:33,740 So the work integral for this force is the integral of F sub 7 00:00:33,740 --> 00:00:40,890 c .ds, which is the path going from point A to point B. 8 00:00:40,890 --> 00:00:44,730 And for a conservative force, this integral does not depend 9 00:00:44,730 --> 00:00:47,670 upon the path from A to B. It's independent of A and B. 10 00:00:47,670 --> 00:00:52,720 So it depends only upon the endpoints. 11 00:00:52,720 --> 00:01:01,110 So this is a path independent integral. 12 00:01:01,110 --> 00:01:03,480 And since it depends only upon the endpoints, 13 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,170 I can write it, since it's going to be an integral from point A 14 00:01:07,170 --> 00:01:09,270 to point B-- this integral must be 15 00:01:09,270 --> 00:01:12,890 equal to some function of the final point. 16 00:01:12,890 --> 00:01:24,450 So some function of r sub B minus some function 17 00:01:24,450 --> 00:01:29,340 of the initial point r sub A. And to just get this integral 18 00:01:29,340 --> 00:01:33,690 from A to B, in our usual way of evaluating a definite integral, 19 00:01:33,690 --> 00:01:35,865 it's going to be equal to some function of r 20 00:01:35,865 --> 00:01:40,080 B minus some function of r A, since the integral depends only 21 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:42,370 upon the endpoints. 22 00:01:42,370 --> 00:01:45,039 Now, let's call this function-- I'm 23 00:01:45,039 --> 00:01:51,390 going to make a sort of funny choice here-- so let's 24 00:01:51,390 --> 00:02:01,740 call this function minus U as a function of position factor r. 25 00:02:01,740 --> 00:02:06,060 And we'll see the reason for this funny choice of minus sign 26 00:02:06,060 --> 00:02:07,650 in just a moment. 27 00:02:07,650 --> 00:02:16,200 So now with this definition, my work integral, which again, 28 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:26,310 is the integral of F sub c .ds from point A to point B is now 29 00:02:26,310 --> 00:02:33,070 minus U of r B minus minus U of r A. So in other words, 30 00:02:33,070 --> 00:02:44,880 that's minus U of r B-- so minus minus gives me a plus U of r 31 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,040 sub A. 32 00:02:47,040 --> 00:03:00,330 For shorthand, I can write that as minus U sub B plus U sub A. 33 00:03:00,330 --> 00:03:06,210 And since we start out at point A and go to point B, 34 00:03:06,210 --> 00:03:07,800 notice that I can also write this 35 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:16,640 as the negative of the change in U. Since the final value of U 36 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:20,310 is r U at B and the initial value is U at A, 37 00:03:20,310 --> 00:03:26,220 so this minus U B plus U A is equal to minus delta 38 00:03:26,220 --> 00:03:28,650 U, the change in U as we go from the initial 39 00:03:28,650 --> 00:03:31,200 to the final position. 40 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:38,160 And note that in addition to that, given that this 41 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,500 is the work integral, I can summarize that 42 00:03:40,500 --> 00:03:44,460 by writing that-- so I'll say, note 43 00:03:44,460 --> 00:03:54,260 that delta U is equal to the negative of the work done 44 00:03:54,260 --> 00:03:58,340 going from point A to point B. Now, 45 00:03:58,340 --> 00:04:03,470 let's write the work kinetic energy theorem using this newly 46 00:04:03,470 --> 00:04:05,360 introduced U function. 47 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:12,990 So the work kinetic energy theorem, 48 00:04:12,990 --> 00:04:18,200 which tells us that the work done, which we've seen 49 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:27,380 is minus U sub B plus U sub A is equal to the change 50 00:04:27,380 --> 00:04:36,820 in kinetic energy delta k, which I can write as K sub B minus K 51 00:04:36,820 --> 00:04:45,530 sub A. Or I could also write that as 1/2 M V B squared 52 00:04:45,530 --> 00:04:50,060 minus 1/2 M V A squared. 53 00:04:50,060 --> 00:04:54,050 So this is just me stating that the work done on the system 54 00:04:54,050 --> 00:04:56,470 is equal to the change in kinetic energy. 55 00:04:56,470 --> 00:04:58,940 And I can write the work in terms of my function U 56 00:04:58,940 --> 00:05:03,950 that I've introduced here to minus U sub B plus U sub A. 57 00:05:03,950 --> 00:05:07,160 So I'm going to rearrange this equation now-- 58 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:09,650 basically the one involving U's and the one involving 59 00:05:09,650 --> 00:05:13,610 kinetic energies-- so that I have all the terms involving 60 00:05:13,610 --> 00:05:16,760 point A on one side and all the terms involving 61 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:18,780 point B on the other side. 62 00:05:18,780 --> 00:05:30,038 So rearranging, I get that at point A 1/2 M V 63 00:05:30,038 --> 00:05:42,730 A squared plus U sub A is equal to at point B 1/2 M V B squared 64 00:05:42,730 --> 00:05:47,870 plus U sub B. Now, notice however, 65 00:05:47,870 --> 00:05:50,590 that there is nothing special about how 66 00:05:50,590 --> 00:05:55,580 I chose the points A and B. They're completely arbitrary. 67 00:05:55,580 --> 00:05:58,240 So that means that this equation must 68 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,260 be true for any points A and B. 69 00:06:02,260 --> 00:06:05,950 And what that means is that each side 70 00:06:05,950 --> 00:06:08,500 must be equal to the same constant 71 00:06:08,500 --> 00:06:10,700 for any point in the system. 72 00:06:10,700 --> 00:06:26,860 So in fact, we can write that K plus U for any point 73 00:06:26,860 --> 00:06:28,750 must be able to some constant, which 74 00:06:28,750 --> 00:06:34,990 I'm going to call E sub mech. 75 00:06:34,990 --> 00:06:38,360 So K here is the kinetic energy. 76 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:43,040 U is my function that I introduced, 77 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,716 and we're going to call it the potential energy. 78 00:06:50,930 --> 00:06:57,270 And E sub mech-- and remember, this E sub mech 79 00:06:57,270 --> 00:07:01,720 here is a constant. 80 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,350 E sub mech is something that we call 81 00:07:04,350 --> 00:07:09,552 the total mechanical energy. 82 00:07:13,110 --> 00:07:15,830 Now, what we've done here is that we've 83 00:07:15,830 --> 00:07:19,040 shown that the total mechanical energy, which 84 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,460 is the sum of the kinetic energy and the potential energy, 85 00:07:22,460 --> 00:07:27,680 is a constant under the action of a conservative force. 86 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,810 In other words, if we look at this equation 87 00:07:29,810 --> 00:07:36,140 and look at how it changes with time, 88 00:07:36,140 --> 00:07:40,880 the change in the kinetic energy, plus the change 89 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,720 in the potential energy is equal to the change 90 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,030 in the total mechanical energy. 91 00:07:47,030 --> 00:07:57,690 And this is 0 for our conservative force. 92 00:07:57,690 --> 00:08:00,410 So in other words, the change in kinetic energy 93 00:08:00,410 --> 00:08:03,200 is balanced by the change in potential energy, such 94 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:08,310 that the sum is 0 when the force acting is conservative. 95 00:08:08,310 --> 00:08:11,870 Now, we've now introduced the very important concept 96 00:08:11,870 --> 00:08:14,420 of the potential energy that is associated 97 00:08:14,420 --> 00:08:16,100 with the conservative force. 98 00:08:16,100 --> 00:08:18,500 And we see that the change in the potential energy, 99 00:08:18,500 --> 00:08:22,100 the way we defined it, the change in potential energy 100 00:08:22,100 --> 00:08:25,250 is equal to the negative of the work integral 101 00:08:25,250 --> 00:08:27,440 for our conservative force going from point A 102 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,310 to point B. Now in fact, it's actually 103 00:08:31,310 --> 00:08:33,710 only the change in the potential energy 104 00:08:33,710 --> 00:08:35,640 that has physical significance. 105 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,030 We'll be concerned with potential energy differences 106 00:08:38,030 --> 00:08:39,169 or changes. 107 00:08:39,169 --> 00:08:41,929 The actual value of the potential energy 108 00:08:41,929 --> 00:08:43,039 itself doesn't matter. 109 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:46,430 We're free to choose any convenient reference 110 00:08:46,430 --> 00:08:49,790 point, or 0 point, for measuring the potential energy. 111 00:08:49,790 --> 00:08:52,580 It's equivalent to choosing a coordinate origin when 112 00:08:52,580 --> 00:08:55,120 we're talking about positions. 113 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:56,870 Now, the potential energy change is 114 00:08:56,870 --> 00:09:01,200 related to the work done by conservative forces. 115 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,230 But we know that in general, work 116 00:09:03,230 --> 00:09:05,810 can also be done by non-conservative forces. 117 00:09:05,810 --> 00:09:08,750 Although, that work by non-conservative forces 118 00:09:08,750 --> 00:09:12,590 will depend upon the path taken from point A to point B. 119 00:09:12,590 --> 00:09:17,000 So in general, the total work is given 120 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,930 by the sum of the conservative work-- 121 00:09:20,930 --> 00:09:22,730 the work done by conservative forces, which 122 00:09:22,730 --> 00:09:25,670 we can relate to a potential energy change, 123 00:09:25,670 --> 00:09:29,060 and the non-conservative work done. 124 00:09:29,060 --> 00:09:31,940 And it's this total work that tells us 125 00:09:31,940 --> 00:09:36,320 what the change in the kinetic energy is. 126 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,420 Now we'll soon see that in the presence 127 00:09:38,420 --> 00:09:42,350 of non-conservative forces, the total mechanical energy, which 128 00:09:42,350 --> 00:09:45,783 is K plus U, is not a constant.