The tutor compares the work done raking yesterday to climbing stairs.

In yesterday’s post I estimated that I had done 13,500J of work raking in the yard. Let’s compare that to a distance climbing stairs.

On Earth, the force due to gravity – aka, weight – is given by

F=mg, where m is mass in kg, while g=9.8

My mass is 82kg, so my weight is

F=mg=82(9.8)=804N

Work is given by

W=Force*distance

To raise myself, I need to overcome my weight of 804N by exerting the same upward. How far do I need to climb to do 13,500J of work?

13500=804*h, h=height

Dividing both sides by 804, we arrive at

h=13500/804=17m.

So, the work I did raking yesterday is equivalent to climbing stairs to a height of 17m: between 6 and 7 flights of residential stairs.

I’ll be discussing more about the physics of everyday chores in future posts:)

Source:

Heath, Robert W., et al. Fundamentals of Physics. D.C. Heath Canada, Ltd, 1981.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.