Which Path Requires the Most Energy

This condition that can be simulated through use of a easy physics lab in that a force is applied to raise a cart up an incline at stable speed to the top of a seat. Three various incline angles could be used to represent the three various paths up the mountain. The seat top represents the summit of the mountain. And the amount of gasoline (or energy) needed to ascend from the base of the mountain to the summit of the mountain would be represented through the amount of work completed on the cart to increase it from the floor to the seat top. The amount of work completed to raise the cart from the floor to the seat top is dependent upon the force applied to the cart and the displacement caused through this force. Classically results of such a physics lab are depicted within the animation below.