Describe a situation where you have applied a lot of force (and maybe even felt tired afterward) but did no work in the sense
One situation where I applied a lot of force but did no work in the physical sense was when I was trying to move a stubborn, immovable object.
I vividly remember an incident when I was helping a friend move into a new apartment. We had a large, bulky piece of furniture that needed to be positioned in a specific corner of the room. However, the piece was wedged tightly between the door frame and the floor, making it extremely difficult to budge.
Determined, I decided to push with all my might, exerting a significant amount of force against the immovable object. Despite my best efforts, the furniture remained firmly stuck. Every push felt like an intense struggle, leaving me exhausted and breathless.
Although I applied a substantial amount of force, the lack of motion meant that no work was done in the scientific sense. Work, scientifically defined, is only achieved when an applied force causes a displacement in the direction of the force. In this situation, since the object did not move, no work was accomplished despite my exertion.
Although physically exhausted, I came to realize that brute force alone was not sufficient. We needed to come up with an alternative solution, such as tilting the furniture or disassembling it, in order to achieve the desired outcome. It taught me the importance of finding innovative approaches rather than relying solely on sheer force.