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Design of Human Powered Vehicles
By
ISBN:
9780791861103
No. of Pages:
300
Publisher:
ASME Press
Publication date:
2016
eBook Chapter
4 Physiology of Human Power Generation
Page Count:
20
-
Published:2016
The human is the power plant for all human-powered vehicles. Although the human engine is often compared to an internal combustion engine, its operation and performance characteristics are quite different. Both engines convert the chemical energy of fuel into mechanical energy, and both produce about four times as much waste heat as useful power. The similarity ends here, however. The internal combustion engine is a heat engine, operating on a thermodynamic cycle and subject to the second law of thermodynamics. This cycle is limited by the difference in temperatures between the hottest and coolest parts of the cycle. In contrast,...
Topics:
Chemical energy,
Combustion,
Cycles,
Energy conversion,
Energy generation,
Engines,
Fuels,
Heat,
Heat engines,
Internal combustion engines,
Performance characterization,
Permanent magnets,
Physiology,
Power stations,
Second law of thermodynamics,
Temperature,
Thermodynamic cycles,
Torque,
Vehicles,
Waste heat
Muscle Structure and Function
Nutrition
Body Systems during Exercise
Maximal Oxygen Consumption
Anaerobic Threshold
Appendix: Calculating the CO2 Production Rate as a Function of External Work
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