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Energy is conventionally measured in Calories as well as in joules. One Calorie

ID: 1897545 • Letter: E

Question

Energy is conventionally measured in Calories as well as in joules. One Calorie in nutrition is one kilocalorie, defined as 1 kcal = 4 186 J. Metabolizing 1 g of fat can release 9.00 kcal. A student decides to try to lose weight by exercising. He plans to run up and down the stairs in a football stadium as fast as he can and as many times as necessary. To evaluate the program, suppose he runs up a flight of 85 steps, each 0.150 m high, in 59.0 s. For simplicity, ignore the energy he uses in coming down (which is small). Assume that a typical efficiency for human muscles is 20.0%. Therefore when your body converts 100 J from metabolizing fat, 20 J goes into doing mechanical work (here, climbing stairs). The remainder goes into extra internal energy. Assume that the student's mass is 68.0 kg.

2 W 3 hp

Explanation / Answer

1kg fat = 9000 kcal = 9000x4186J

20/100 x 9000x4186 = n x 68 x 9.8 x 85 x 0.15

n = 886.8

P = 68 x 9.8 x 85 x 0.15/59

= 144.01W

= 0.193 hp