Question

A people-moving conveyor-belt moves a 600-newton person a distance of 100 meters through the airport.

a. How much work was done?
b. The same 600-newton person lifts his 100-newton carry-on bag upward a distance of 1 meter. They travel another 10 meters by riding on the “people mover.” How much work was done in this situation?

Answer 1

Work = (distance) x (force in the direction of the distance)

a). Gravity acts vertically. No force is required to move horizontally.
The conveyor moves only horizontally, so no work is done.

b). Lifting the bag straight up requires 100N of force.

Work to lift = (1 m) x (100N + weight of his arm) = (100+A) J.

Then, traveling another 10m horizontally on the conveyor
takes no additional work.