Answer :
To burn off a 200 Cal hamburger, you need to climb approximately 164 stories assuming the energy burned is equivalent to the work done against gravity. The calculation involves converting Calories to joules, then using the gravitational potential energy formula with given weight and height values.
To determine how many stories you need to climb to burn off a 200 Cal hamburger, we follow these steps:
- First, convert the energy from Calories to joules:
200 Cal = 200,000 cal (since 1 Cal = 1000 cal)
200,000 cal x 4.2 J/cal = 840,000 J
- Next, calculate the work done for climbing using the gravitational potential energy formula (mgh):
W = mgh
The weight (m) is 640 Newtons, the height (h) for each story is 8 meters, and g (acceleration due to gravity) is 9.8 m/s².
Let the number of stories be n.
Thus, Work done = 640 N x 8 m x n = 5120 n J
- Set the energy burned equal to the work done to find n:
840,000 J = 5120 n J
n ≈ 164
Therefore, you need to climb approximately 164 stories to completely burn off that 200 Cal hamburger.