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Re: positive and negative work



I wrote:

The book is wrong. The work done _by_ the muscles is negative. (The work
done _on_ the muscles would be positive, but that's not the question that
was asked.)

By the way: If you look at the biophysics, it turns out that the negative work
done by the muscles does not show up as useful mechanical or chemical energy in
the muscles. Indeed you need to provide a positive amount of chemical energy to
allow the muscle to do its negative work.

However, that does not change my answer. Negative work is done by the muscles
during sitting.

(You could summarize this by saying that the muscle is more-than-100% inefficient
in storing the energy.)