Question

A man rowing a boat upstream is at rest with respect to the shore, is he doing work?

Answer 1

According to the question,

1. Yes, the man is doing work against the river current.
2. The river is flowing downward, the person is rowing upward. This causes him to do work.
3. The formula for calculation of work in upstream speed is given by :

Let us assume,

The speed of the boat in still water to be $ukm{h}^{-1}$ and the speed of the stream be $vkm{h}^{-1}$, the formula will be given by ;
Speed downstream$=(u+v)km{h}^{-1}$
Speed upstream $=(u-v)km{h}^{-1}$ With respect to shore

Since the person covers distance, hence yes he is doing work.
As work is defined as the product of force and distance.

The boat is doing work against the river current but there is no work done by boat against shore because there is no displacement taking place with respect to shore.

Hence, we can say that yes, the man is doing work.