Laboratory #8: Student Horsepower

Objective:​ To determine the power, or work per unit time, produced by a human in climbing a
flight of stairs.

Materials:​ meter stick, stop watch, metric bathroom scale

Introduction:
The human body constantly consumes energy. The rate of consumption of energy
depends on the type of activity engaged in. Activities such as running or climbing stairs result in
a higher power output than sitting, thinking, or sleeping. The overall time rate of bodily energy
consumption is called metabolic rate. In an automobile engine chemical energy is converted first
into heat and then into mechanical energy. In humans the chemical energy (food energy) is
converted directly into work. The work done by the human body can be classified into three
distinct types, (a) muscular mechanical energy such as doing work lifting limbs and pumping
blood in activities such as stair climbing, (b) osmotic work such as transferring biomolecules and
ions into and out of cells, and filtering blood in the kidneys, and (c) synthetic chemical work
such as constructing biologically important molecules from smaller ones.
In this experiment only the net work done against the force of gravity will be measured
by your increase in gravitational potential energy, PE. The potential energy of an object of mass,
m, lifted through a height, y, is: ​PE = mgy​. The "useful" lifting power output is the time rate at
which potential energy is being consumed.

This net power output is only 20% to 25 % of the total biochemical energy the body generates.
Most of the energy is dissipated by the body as heat energy. Heat transfer occurs through the
evaporation of moisture from the skin, convective heat transfer to the air, and through radiation.
The standard SI unit for measuring power is the watt, defined as 1 joule/sec (J/s). In the
British Engineering System the unit of power is the horsepower which is based on the
foot-pound unit of work. Horsepower is defined as: 1 hp = 550 ft· lb/sec. The conversion from
SI to British units is 1 hp = 745.7 W.

Procedure:

NOTE: Each student must measure her/his own horsepower.

1. TAKING CARE NOT TO FALL, walk up the flight of stairs, in the hall just outside the lab,
to the fourth floor. Time yourself, or have your lab partner time you, using a stopwatch.

2. Determine the total vertical height from your starting point on the second floor to the fourth
floor landing. Measure and record the height in meters and in feet.

3. Using the bathroom scale in the lab, measure and record your body mass in kilograms.

4, Use your measurements to calculate the total increase in PE, in joules. Make sure you observe
the rules for significant figures in calculations!
5. Compute your power output in watts and the error in the power output and then convert to
horsepower.

6. Uncertainty Analysis: Please refer to Lab #2 to determine the uncertainty propagation.

 Laboratory #8 Data Sheet & Questions

Data:

Total Time: t = __________ (s) Step 1 Error in total time: δt = ________________

What might be a reasonable error in the total time? Explain:

Total Height: y = ____________(m) Step 2

Describe briefly your method of measuring the height you climbed:

Estimate the error (or uncertainty) of your measurement of the total height climbed. Explain
your reasoning.

Estimated Error: δ y = ± _____________ cm = ± _____________m

Mass: m= _____________kg assume and error of δm= 0.1 kg

Calculations:

Potential Energy Gained: PE = __________________ J

Error in PE Gained: ΔPE = ___________________ J

Useful Power Output: P = ____________________ W (J/s)

Error in Useful Power Output: ΔP = ______________________ W (J/s)

Useful Power Output in units of Horsepower: : P = ____________________ hp

 Questions
1. ​Explain​ how each quantity would change if you had run up the steps instead of walking up.
(a) Potential Energy Gained

(b) Useful Power Output

2. Assume that your body is only 22% efficient in converting biochemical energy into
gravitational potential energy during the process of climbing the steps. Use your useful power
output calculated above to determine your metabolic rate or total power output during the climb.

3. An alternate equation useful in calculating power output is P=F⋅v, where F is the force
applied and v is the object’s velocity.
(a) Show that the quantity F⋅v has units of power.

(b) If a horse exerts a force of 150 lb to pull a sled at a constant speed of 2.5 mi/hr, find its useful
power output in units of “horsepower”.

4. A 24-hp electric motor provides power for the elevator in a 6 story building. If the total
weight of the loaded elevator is 2200 lb, how long a time does it take to rise the 96 ft from the
first to the sixth floor?

5. A driver notices that her 1150 kg car slows down from 85 km/h to 65 km/h in about 6.0 s on
level ground when it is in neutral. Approximately what power (watts) is needed to keep the car
traveling at a constant 75 km/h? Show your work. (Hint: Use the alternate equation for power in
question #3 above.)