Question

Mrs. leuenberger ran the same marathon but since her husband was hunting and she couldn't find a babysitter she had to carry her two daughters in her arms they weigh 40pounds and 55pounds Mrs Leuenberger weighs 145 pound (but you didn't hear that from me)How much work and power did Mrs Leueberger expend if she ran the course in 2 hour 45minutes?
A.work
B.power

Answer 1

It is a silly question. Work in the sense of energy is force*distance in the direction of the force, in this case weight is down, motion is horizontal, so your teacher is asking you for zero work.

But the reality of it is She is moving up and down as she runs, and that entails the movement of force in that direction: work. Additionally, there is friction, so work was done that way.
I never understood why teachers crafted silly questions that just confuse students.