ELI5, How am I able to go farther and faster on my bicycle than by walking, considering I have to move the mass of the bike, as well as the loss of energy to friction from the gears and wheels?
In: 68
Walking you need to keep outputting effort or you stop. A bike you can coast. With one unit of foot motion you move that same one unit. On a bike that one unit could be much farther. To run the speed of a bike you also have to reset your legs; it takes energy to swing each leg forward fast enough.
That’s the point of machines, to make our energy output more useful.
Waking while carrying the bike or rolling it next to you will take more effort than just walking.
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