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Juan's weight is twice the weight of his little sister Anna. They climb the same set of stairs and find they have the same power. Explain how this can be possible?

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Answer:

We can define power as:

P = W/t

where W is work, and t is time.

And the work needed to climb a distance (we can assume that climb a set of stairs is equivalent to climbing a given height) is:

W = g*h*m

Where:

g = gravitational acceleration

h = height climbed

m = mass.

g and h are the same for Juan and his sister, and the only thing that changes is the mass

The work for Juan is:

Wj = g*h*M

And for his sister, that has half his

Wa = g*h*M/2.

Then the power for Juan, is:

Pj = Wj/t1 = (g*h*M)/t1

Where t1 is the time that Juan needs to climb the stairs.

And for Anna is:

Pa = Wa/t2 = (g*h*M/2)/t2

Where t2 is the time that Anna needs to climb the stairs:

We know that they have the same power, then:

Pj = Pa

(g*h*M)/t1 = (g*h*M/2)/t2

M/t1 = M/2*t2

t1 = 2*t2

This means that the time in which Juan climbs the stairs is twice the time that Anna needs to climb the stairs.

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