Sham S. Misri

Atlas was a leader of Titans. Once there was a battle between the Titans and the Olympians. The Titans were defeated in this war and were placed in Tartarus as punishment. However, Atlas wasn't granted this punishment and was instead forced to carry the entire weight of the sky on his shoulders. Atlas was relieved of his duty once by Hercule's, but was later tricked into resuming his burden.

If the mythical god Atlas was supposed to hold the stationary Earth on his shoulders, was he doing any work?

Well, Atlas the mythical hero who held up the earth on his shoulders was clever enough to do no work.

Scientists have proved that, for arguments sake, if it took a force of 6.02 x 10²⁴ N to hold up the earth, how much work did Atlas do while holding the earth on his shoulders?

Actually, Atlas is not doing any work! While he is applying a force of 6.02 x 10²⁴ N to the earth, he is not moving it any distance. So if the known values are put into an equation:

W = (6.02 x 10²⁴ N) (0 m) = 0 joules i.e Zero joules.

Thus, Atlas is not doing any work in the scientific sense.