Question #b63d2

1 Answer
Mar 14, 2017

Energy possessed by an object due to its motion is termed as its Kinetic Energy.

It follows that if there is no motion, or the object is stationary, its kinetic energy is zero.

From Law of conservation of Energy we also know that energy can not be created. It however, can be changed from one form to another.

Derivation.
It is assumed mass is constant.
We know that work done in accelerating an object of mass m through an infinitesimal time interval dt is given by the dot product of force vecF and infinitesimal displacement dvecr. Therefore total work done is
W=intvecFcdotdvecr
Using Newton's Second law of Motion
vecF=mveca
the integral becomes

W=intmvecacdotdvecr
Writing acceleration in terms of velocity vecv we get
W=m int(dvecv)/(dt)cdotdvecr
Rearranging we get
W=m int(dvecr)/(dt) cdot dvecv
We know that (dvecr)/(dt)-=vecv, therefore our integral becomes
W=m intvecv cdot dvecv

Assuming that the object was at rest at time t=0, we integrate from t=0 to t=t as the work done by the force to bring the object from rest to velocity v is equal to the work necessary to reverse the process.
W=m int vecv cdot dvecv
W=m [1/2v^2+C]
where C is constant of integration.

As work done is zero when v=0, =>C=0
Hence, W=KE=1/2mv^2