Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi I need to find the Energy transfer, transformation and efficiency in a Horse powered carts but I can't find anything and I don't want to let my group down can someone help me? I need an answer as soon as possible.

Hi Living,

Energy transformation is the change from one form of energy to another. Horses convert chemical energy from food into mechanical energy when they move (or pull a carriage). A few examples of energy transformations are listed at the following links:

http://www.softschools.com/examples/sci ... mples/161/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_transformation

Efficiency refers to the amount of energy consumed to produce useful work. To pull a carriage, a horse must get energy from eating a quantity of food. And pulling a carriage requires a certain amount of energy. The efficiency would be the energy needed to pull the carriage divided by the energy in the food eaten by the horse.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Hi Living,

A useful equation for finding the work is W = Fd, where F is force exerted in Newtons and d is the distance over which the object moves. In order to find the force exerted, you would need to know the force of friction on the cart when it is rolling. The following link provides the necessary equations: https://www.school-for-champions.com/sc ... oiKERPwZBx
You would also have to estimate the mass of the carriage.
To find how much energy the horse consumes, research how much a horse eats in a day (i.e. how many calories) and convert that to joules, then divide the work by the food energy.

I hope this helps!

Elena

Thank you for your help, I got an A on my part of the assignment! I guess I owe it to you guys. Thank you.