A 75.0 kg man pushes on a 500,000 ton wall for 250 s but it does not move. How much work does he do on the wall?

2 Answers
Feb 9, 2018

No work

Explanation:

Work is equal to a force times a displacement (parallel to the force)
W=FD
It is energy that causes a mass to be moved.

In this situation the wall does not move, ie zero displacement, therefore he does no work on the wall.

W=FD=F0=0J

Feb 9, 2018

0J

Explanation:

Work is defined by the equation

W=Fd

F is the force in newtons

d is the distance in metres

Since the wall didn't move anywhere, that means that he did no work or 0 joules of work.

This can be a trick question because of the time given (250s), but you always have to follow with the definition of work, which is force multiplied by distance. Since the distance is not moved, then no work is done.