Both the works basically push force into the ground.So why does walking require more work?
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1standing requires no "work"(i.e "physics" work), but since we displace during walking, thus require more work, thus the question. – oops May 05 '16 at 06:59
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Frictional loses + kinetic loses etc. – Anubhav Goel May 05 '16 at 07:01
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1Actually, standing does require work due to the way our muscles work and because we jitter macroscopically instead of standing totally still. Off-topic addendum: Standing will cause you pain much sooner than walking. – Sebastian Riese May 06 '16 at 21:09
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Walking requires raising and lowering the centre of gravity, as well as moving the limbs. Both of these require muscles to contract and extend and use energy. If the muscles were perfect springs then the energy stored during contraction could be fully recovered during extension. No energy would be lost. But they are not perfect springs - some energy is always lost during the cycle of contraction/extension.
Energy is also used when muscles are holding things up, not doing any physical work (= force x distance). This is explained in the following links :
Why does holding something up cost energy while no work is being done?
sammy gerbil
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