Question

How many slices of bread did each climber have to eat to compensate for the increase of the gravitational potential energy of the system climbers-Earth? (One piece of bread releases about 1.0×106J of energy in the body.) Assume that the height of Mt. Everest is 8850 m, the weight of a person is about 79 kg , and efficiency in converting the body's chemical energy into mechanical work is 9.5 %.

Answer 1

Each climber had to eat 72 slices of bread to compensate for the increase of the gravitational potential energy of the system climbers-Earth

Step-by-step explanation:

Hi

One piece of bread releases about
`1.0 * 10^(6)J` of energy in the body, but efficiency in converting the body's chemical energy into mechanical work is 9.5 %, so
`1.0 * 10^(6)J(9.5\%)=95* 10^(3) J`.

On the other hand, we need to calculate the total work to reach the top of Mt. Everest , so
`W=mgh=(79 Kg)(9.8 m/s^(2))(8850 m)=6.8 * 10^(6)J`

Finally, we have that
`\# slices=(W)/(Energy/Slice) =(6.8 * 10^(6)J)/(95* 10^(3) J) =72 \ slices \ of \ bread`