B Newton's Third Law Question -- Does the Earth Do Work on Me?

AI Thread Summary
When performing a press-up, the Earth exerts an upward force due to Newton's Third Law, but this force does not constitute work since it does not involve movement of the surface in contact. The mechanical work associated with the press-up originates from the muscles, which actively generate force and cause movement. The Earth simply provides a reaction force without any energy transfer, as it remains stationary during the exercise. While one could calculate the upward force of the Earth against the body's center of mass, attributing work to the Earth is misleading since it does not actively contribute to the movement. Ultimately, the energy expended in the exercise is entirely due to the body's muscular effort.
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Does the Earth 'do' anything when it pushes up on me?
When I do a press-up I consciously push down on the ground, my muscles tense, I breathe harder, I sweat, etc. When the Earth pushes back up on me (Newton's 3rd Law) is it 'doing anything', or does it push back up on me merely by virtue of it being there?
 
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It's the latter. The Earth is not a spectacularly inefficient machine like the human body is. It doesn't have to "do anything" but be in the way to push you up.
 
paulb203 said:

Newton's Third Law Question -- Does the Earth Do Work on Me?​

When I do a press-up I consciously push down on the ground, my muscles tense, I breathe harder, I sweat, etc. When the Earth pushes back up on me (Newton's 3rd Law) is it 'doing anything', or does it push back up on me merely by virtue of it being there?
Force is not work. Force is related to momentum transfer, which doesn't imply energy transfer.
 
The mechanical work done by the Earth on the bottom surface of your shoes when you jump is approximately zero. This is because the bottom surface of your shoes does not move while the force from the Earth is acting.

If you look for the source of the mechanical work that is done, you will find that it originates in your muscles. Obviously.

If you look at the forces from each muscle on each of its attachment points and multiply each force by the parallel motion of the associated attachment point, the total will be a positive number. That is the mechanical work done by the muscles.

One can multiply the upward force of the Earth on one's body by the upward motion of the body's center of mass and arrive at a similar number. But it is hard to credit the Earth with "doing" this [center of mass] work when it was just sitting there passively the whole time. Better to give credit where credit is due.
 
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