Question

The rabbit flea Spilopsyllus has a mass of 0.45 mg. It can jump vertically to aheight of about 3.5 cm. Biologists have hypothesized that the energy for the jump is most likely derived from the elastic potential energy stored in the resilin pads ofthe two rear legs of the flea. Each pad is estimated to have a volume of about and its strain typically reaches a value of 100%. The elastic modulus of resilience is about . Is the hypothesis plausible

Answer 1

Therefore The hypothesis is not plausible Because

`P.E \geq P.E_e`

`P.E=12.435*10^(-5)J \geq 1.4*10^(-7)J`

Step-by-step explanation:

From the question we are told that:

Mass
`M=0.45mg`

Jump height
`h=3.5cm \approx 0.03m`

Percentage strain
`\mu =100\%`

Generally the equation for potential energy is mathematically given by

`P.E=mgh`

`P.E=0.45*10^(-3)*9.8*0.03`

`P.E=12.435*10^(-5)J`

Generally the equation for Elastic potential energy is mathematically given by

`P.E_e=0.5*stress*strain *volume`

`P.E_e=0.5*1*2*10^6*1*1.4*10^(-4*(10^-3)^3)`

`P.E_e=1.4*10^(-7)J`

The hypothesis is only plausible at conditions where

`P.E\leq P.E_e`

Therefore The hypothesis is not plausible Because

`P.E \geq P.E_e`

`P.E=12.435*10^(-5)J \geq 1.4*10^(-7)J`