Two piles of heavy boxes must be lifted onto a shelf. Each pile has 20 boxes and each box is the same size and weight. Tom and Claudia are each responsible for a pile. Tom lifts each box straight up from the pile to the shelf. Claudia places a long, gradual ramp that leads from the pile to the shelf. She pushes each box up the ramp until it rests on the shelf.
QUESTION:
Tom pulls a muscle. He has to stop working to get an ice pack. Claudia continues to work and soon finishes her pile. Power is the rate of doing work. It’s calculated by dividing work by time (power = work ÷ time). Who had more power in this scenario? Why?
