Final answer:
The swing phase accounts for approximately 40% of the gait cycle. In the context of a damped harmonic oscillator, if the amplitude decreases by 3.0%, approximately 5.91% of the mechanical energy is lost in each cycle.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking about the percentage of the gait cycle that is accounted for by the swing phase. However, the detailed information provided is about a different topic, namely the energy loss in a lightly damped oscillator. To address the initial question, during a gait cycle, the swing phase typically accounts for 40% of the cycle, with the remaining 60% being the stance phase. This relates to the study of biomechanics within the field of Physics. Now, addressing the information given about the damped harmonic motion, if the amplitude of a lightly damped oscillator decreases by 3.0% during each cycle, we can calculate the percentage of mechanical energy lost by considering that the energy is proportional to the square of the amplitude.
Let E_0 be the initial energy and A_0 the initial amplitude, then after one cycle the amplitude is 0.97A_0 because it has decreased by 3%. The energy after one cycle, E_1, would be proportional to the square of this decreased amplitude, i.e., (0.97A_0)^2. The percentage of mechanical energy lost would then be ((E_0 - E_1) / E_0) × 100%, which equals (1 - (0.97)^2) × 100%, roughly equal to 5.91%.