Work those stairs!

Here we are at the bottom of weinberg staircase, and we don't look to happy to go to class because our lockers are on the third floor. Have you ever wondered if going up the other stairs is less work? (sorry i dont have a picture of the other stairs, but we all know they have a steeper incline). After the lab stimulation when we pulled the cart up various inclines of ramps, I realized both stairs require the same work. Since work is the change in total energy and only potential energy has changed we can use W=mgh to find work done. Although going up the stairs shown in the picture you have to travel a longer distance, in both scenarious you reach the same height so the work done is equal. Why does it seem harder to go up the other stairs then? Because the other stairs have a higher incline it requires more force to get up them while the stairs in the picture have a smaller incline requiring less force. To calculate work done using this information you would use
W=Fcos(theta)(displacement) where the shorter distance compensates for the larger force once again making the work done in both scenarios the same.