Homework 5.

1
Cycling
Cycling is not only a healthy and enjoyable sport it is also a most efficient way of travelling.
Figure 1 shows a simplified bicycle, where the radius of each wheel is RW and the distance from the
centre of the pedal to the bearing about which it turns is RP.

Figure 1

The different sizes of the gear wheels mean that one rotation of the pedals does not correspond to one
rotation of the wheel. In the lowest gear setting, one complete rotation of the pedals makes the wheels
turn through 1.3 rotations.
1

Calculate the speed of the bicycle when the cyclist makes the pedals turn through 2 rotations per
second in the lowest gear.

[2]

RP = 17.5 cm and RW = 35 cm
2

The bicycle accelerates uniformly from rest and takes 2.8 s to travel a distance of 10 m in the
lowest gear. Calculate the force accelerating the bicycle and, assuming that there are no frictional
forces within the bicycle gears, find the mean force with which the cyclist must push down on the
pedals.
[5]
mass of bicycle and rider = 84 kg

When cycling up a hill of gradient 15, the cyclist is moving at a steady speed of 4.6 m s1.
Calculate the gravitational potential energy gained in travelling 50 m on a straight road up the hill. [2]
g = 9.8 m s2

The bicycle in part 3 is 85% efficient into transferring energy through the gears and wheels to
work done on the sloping road. Calculate the useful output power developed by the cyclist in
cycling 50 m up the 15 hill.

Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Cambridge University Press 2014

[4]

The cyclist continues to the top of the hill, a total height risen of 73 m. He then turns round and
free-wheels (cycles without pedalling) back down to the bottom. Assuming, as with cycling up the
hill, 15% of the energy transferred is lost as heat, calculate the speed the cyclist would have at the
bottom.
[3]

When free-wheeling down the hill, the cyclist does not accelerate all the time, as assumed in part
5. After a while, he moves at a constant speed. In the simplified diagram of Figure 2, the bicycle
and cyclist are drawn as a rectangular block. Draw labelled arrows to represent all the forces acting
on the cyclist and bicycle as they travel at a constant speed, and use them to explain why they are
not accelerating.
[4]

Figure 2

Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Cambridge University Press 2014