Generating Power by Running up Stairs

Generating Power by Running Up Stairs

Purpose: to investigate the concepts of work and power in a fun and easy way.

Materials: people, ruler, stopwatch, bathroom scale (1.0 kg = 2.2 lbs, 744 W = 1 h.p.)

Procedure: 1. Measure your mass on the bathroom scale and record it. Convert it to kilograms. 2. Find a stairwell with a height of at least two stories. Keep your voices down as you perform the lab, so as not to disturb other classes. 3. Determine the height you will attain once you reach the top of the stairs. Use the lowest point in the stairwell as your reference height. 4. Have your partner time you going up the stairs, climbing as fast as you can. Please be careful not to trip or overexert yourself. 5. Record your time. 6. Switch partners so that each student can find her/his horsepower. 7. Determine your horsepower by following the procedure below, and provide your answer for the rest of the class.

Analysis/Homework: 1. Against what force do you work to get up the stairs? Calculate the magnitude of this force. 2. Determine the amount of work you did to get to the top of the flight of stairs. 3. Determine your power in Watts and in horsepower, using the fact that P=W/t, or P=∆E/t. 4. How many students of your horsepower would it take to drive a car that has 70 h.p.? 5. Who were the most powerful climbers in the class? What are two ways you could become a more powerful climber? 6. The stair climbing world record was once held by Dr. Randolph Seed, who climbed the 100 story John Hancock Building in Chicago in 14 min 29 s. Assuming he had a mass of 70.0 kg, and a height of 4.5 m per story, determine Dr. Seed’s average power, in both Watts and horsepower. 7. How long would it take you to climb to the top of the CN Tower, which is 553.33 m tall? How long would it take you to climb only the 2579 stairs to the highest observation level (assume the same stair height as you measured in the activity)?

Generating Power by Running Up Stairs

Purpose: to investigate the concepts of work and power in a fun and easy way.

Materials: people, ruler, stopwatch, bathroom scale (1.0 kg = 2.2 lbs, 744 W = 1 h.p.)

Procedure: 1. Measure your mass on the bathroom scale and record it. Convert it to kilograms. 2. Find a stairwell with a height of at least two stories. Keep your voices down as you perform the lab, so as not to disturb other classes. 3. Determine the height you will attain once you reach the top of the stairs. Use the lowest point in the stairwell as your reference height. 4. Have your partner time you going up the stairs, climbing as fast as you can. Please be careful not to trip or overexert yourself. 5. Record your time. 6. Switch partners so that each student can find her/his horsepower. 7. Determine your horsepower by following the procedure below, and provide your answer for the rest of the class.

Analysis/Homework: 1. Against what force do you work to get up the stairs? Calculate the magnitude of this force. 2. Determine the amount of work you did to get to the top of the flight of stairs. 3. Determine your power in Watts and in horsepower, using the fact that P=W/t, or P=∆E/t. 4. How many students of your horsepower would it take to drive a car that has 70 h.p.? 5. Who were the most powerful climbers in the class? What are two ways you could become a more powerful climber? 6. The stair climbing world record was once held by Dr. Randolph Seed, who climbed the 100 story John Hancock Building in Chicago in 14 min 29 s. Assuming he had a mass of 70.0 kg, and a height of 4.5 m per story, determine Dr. Seed’s average power, in both Watts and horsepower. 7. How long would it take you to climb to the top of the CN Tower, which is 553.33 m tall? How long would it take you to climb only the 2579 stairs to the highest observation level (assume the same stair height as you measured in the activity)?