Why can’t you calculate Work (only Torque) when pushing down on your bicycle pedals as your bicycle moves forward?
In: 7
You can calculate the work that is done.
Work = torque * angualr displacement, just like work = force * distance for linear motion.
Let’s look at a torque of 50 Nm during 40 rotations. The angular displacement needs to be in radians so it is 40*2*pi
The work is 50 * 40 * 2 * pi =12567 joules.
This assumes the force you press with is constant, in practice it is not when you pedal a bike. You can use average force if you do integer rotation. Even for not integers, it will be close for multiple rotations
You can just use the force you press down on the pedal too. The circumference of a circle is 2 * pi. You can also say the move distance is angular displacement * radius
Torque is force * radius so if you have the torque the radius is already multiple to the force.
So torque is a way to have the radius you apply the force.
Work is only done if it is moving so if you push down and the bike does not move there is no work done. The same is the case for linear motion, push a heavy box and if it does not move no work is done.
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