There's No Business Like Snow Business

I live in a large apartment complex, so on snow days, most of the snow gets plowed.  

However, we have to shovel out our own parking spaces, so for this assignment, I

determined the work it takes for me to shovel out a parking space filled with snow.  

First, I measured the length and width of the parking space, as well as the depth of the snow.  

After, I shoveled some of the snow to determine how high I lift it.

Length: 5.334 m

Width: 2.667 m

Snow Depth: 0.254 m

Height Lifted:  0.6858 m

After doing some research on www.accuweather.com, I found 10 cm of snow is equal to 1 cm of rain, and 1 cubic cm is
equal to 1 mL.  Using this, I determined the mass of snow in the parking lot.

V = 5.334 * 2.667 * 0.254 = 3.613 m3 of snow = 0.3613 m3 of water

Since 1 cubic meter = 1000 L, 0.3613 m3 = 361.3L of water.

According to www.convert-to.com, 1 L water = 1 kg, so 361.3 L water = 361.3 kg.

Then, I used the formula W = U = mgh in order to determine the amount of work it takes
to clear out the parking space.

W = U = 361.3 * 9.8 * 0.6858 = 2428 J