Question

A male athlete weighs 175lb. His sprint time for the 40 meter dash was 11.7 seconds. Calculate his absolute and relative power. (Do not forget to put units), Absolute power=W, Relative power=W/kg

Answer 1

Absolute power

Power = Work/time

Work = Force × Distance

Absolute power = Force x total distance / time

Here force means weight that is moving = 175 lb

Weight = 175 lb = 175 × 0.453 = 79.37 kg, means approximately 79.4 kg

Distance = 40 meter

Time = 11.7 sec

Then substitute theses values in above equation

Power = 79.4 × 40 / 11.7

            = 271.4 W

Relative power

Relative power can be calculated with absolute power divided by body weight

Relative power = Power/Weight

            = 271.4/79.4

            = 3.41 W/Kg