To my understanding (which is pretty basic), energy is the ability to do work. But if for example, I push a wall, I do exhaust my energy, but no work is done since the wall is not moving. So what is happening to the energy? Thanks.
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My English is not so good, so if someone could fix bad English in the question I would be grateful. – Michael Haddad Apr 27 '16 at 08:25
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See also The physical definition of work seems paradoxical – John Rennie Apr 27 '16 at 08:50
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@JohnRennie After reading the answer to the original question, I think I understand. There is not much energy spend, and the energy that I do spend is converted to other types of energy such as heat or voice. Am I correct? – Michael Haddad Apr 27 '16 at 08:54
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3Suppose you apply a force to the wall be leaning some heavy object against it. There is a force on the wall, but no work is being done. However unlike the heavy object your muscles need to consume energy to maintain a constant force, which is just down to the way muscles operate. The energy consumed by your muscles ends up as heat. – John Rennie Apr 27 '16 at 08:57