I was looking at the ramp up to the big doorway on this wonderful old building. Work has to be done to move an object. Work done = force x distance moved, with the force acting along the line of the distance measurement. Lifting things up to the doorway is work done against gravity. The height is about 2.5 metres. If you push things up the ramp, they end up at the doors just the same, so the same work must have been done against gravity. But you will have moved a bigger distance so the force needed will be smaller. Ramps reduce the effort required - although accounting for friction, slightly more work will end up being done.
