The Power of

Running





Emma Khazzam

Acadmie de la Capitale

Mme Neena

11th grade, Physics

November 25th, 2013

Question:
How will the power of the participants change walking up a staircase compared to
running up a staircase? Will the power be greater walking or running?

Hypothesis:
If the time it takes a participant to reach the top of the staircase is greater, then the
power will be less, so the power will be greater when the participant runs up the stairs.

Materials:
Metric tape measure
Staircase
Three consenting human participants
Stopwatch


Method:
1. The mass in kilograms of all the participants was noted.
2. The height of one of the steps on the staircase was measured in meters and
multiplied by the number of steps on the staircase to nd the height that each
participant had to walk and run.
3. Each participant walked the height of the staircase at a constant speed three times.
The time it took them to walk was noted and their average was calculated.
4. Each participant ran the length of the staircase at a constant speed three times. The
time it took them to run was noted and their average was calculated.
5. The potential energy of each participant was calculated.
6. The average power when each participant walked up the stairs was calculated.
7. The average power when each participant ran up the stairs was calculated.














Data:

Table 1: Test subjects mass and potential energy
Equation to nd the potential energy: Eg=mgh
Eg= Potential Energy
m= Mass (of the participant)
g= Force of gravity
h= Height (of the staircase)


Table 2: Time in seconds it took each participant to walk up the staircase


Table 3: Time it in seconds took each participant to run up the staircase









Test Subject Mass in kilograms Potential Energy in
Joules
Subject 1 59.9 kg 2453.7 J
Subject 2 56.7 kg 2322.7 J
Subject 3 52.2 kg 2138.3 J
Test Subject Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Subject 1 14.1 seconds 14.7 seconds 14.1 seconds
Subject 2 14.2 seconds 14.6 seconds 14.2 seconds
Subject 3 12.9 seconds 14.8 seconds 13.6 seconds
Test Subject Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Subject 1 6.3 seconds 5.0 seconds 5.0 seconds
Subject 2 5.6 seconds 6.2 seconds 5.6 seconds
Subject 3 6.1 seconds 5.8 seconds 5.8 seconds
Table 4: Test subjects average power walking compared to running up the staircase
Equation to nd the power: P=E/t
P= Power
E= Energy
t= Time





Data Analysis:

Graph 1: The average power in Watts of walking compared to of running.



The vertical axis is in Watts.
Test Subject Average power walking
in Watts
Average power running
in Watts
Subject 1 171.6 W 456.96 W
Subject 2 162. 1 W 401.4 W
Subject 3 155.8 W 362.6 W
0
125
250
375
500
Walking Running
362.6
155.8
401.4
162.1
456.96
171.6
Graph 1 can help us answer our questions; How will the power of the participants
change walking up a staircase compared to running up a staircase? Will the power be
greater walking or running? The test subjects power on the right side of the graph is
greater running up the stairs, compared to the left side of the graph walking up the
stairs. The power of running is more than double the power of walking. The amount of
time it takes to run up stairs is less than the amount of time it talks to walk up, as we
would expect. This is the reason why the power is greater running up the stairs. In the
equation for power (P=E/t), there are three variables: Power, Energy and Time. The less
the time with the same potential energy, the greater the power will be. When the
participants ran up the stairs they felt more tired compared to when they walked up the
stairs. This also shows that we use more energy running than we do walking.

Conclusion:
This experiment looked at the difference in power between walking and running up a
staircase. The hypothesis predicted that the power would be greater running up the
stairs compared to walking. The hypothesis is correct. This can be proved with Graph 1
which shows that the power of running is more then double the power of walking. The
purpose of this experiment was achieved and the anticipated answer was supported.




















References:

Physics 11 University Preparation. Toronto, Canada: Nelson Education Ltd., 2011. Print.