1.

Based on the work that we did when going up and down the stairs, the act of
going down the stairs resulted to a positive work, while the result of the work
exerted while going up the stairs was negative.
Work is usually defined as , but since gravity is a
conservative force, this formula can be simplified to

, where d is the distance you travelled, and is the angle
your path makes with gravity. This is the formula for the work done by gravity, so
if the answer is positive, that means you have to do less work (gravity is helping), but
if the answer is negative, you have to compensate by doing that work yourself.

So the amount of work you do is dependent on the angle your trajectory makes with
gravity. If you walk forward, that is, perpendicular to gravity, is zero,
so gravity is not helping nor hurting you. But as soon as you walk in an inclined
direction, you will feel the effects of gravity in the amount of work.

2. According to physics, the amount of work exerted while walking on a flat surface
is equal to zero. So the professor who prefers walking through the corridor of the
accounting division first before going up another flight of stairs is given a breathing
time to relax and not work for a few seconds, as opposed to continuously doing work
by climbing up the stairs from the 1
st
floor to the 3
rd
floor and not taking a detour.