After a detailed study of the Jamaican sprinter's 100m
performance during the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Physicists have
announced that Olympic champion Usain Bolt produced 50 times more energy than that
of a speeding bullet.
They discovered that he produced a remarkable 81.58kJ of
energy - compared to just 1.6kJ of energy a bullet produces when it leaves the
barrel of a 0.44 calibre Magnum handgun.
They also calculated that he reached a top speed of 27mph
during the race.
But unlike a bullet - which can reach 1,000mph - Bolt's huge 6ft 5ins frame meant more than 92 per cent of his energy was absorbed in battling air resistance.
But unlike a bullet - which can reach 1,000mph - Bolt's huge 6ft 5ins frame meant more than 92 per cent of his energy was absorbed in battling air resistance.
Bolt reached a maximum power of 2,619.5watts - a horsepower of 3.5 - within 0.89 seconds when he was only at half his maximum speed, which shows the effect the drag had on his acceleration.They made the discovery after taking into account the altitude of the Berlin track, the temperature at the time of the race and the cross-section of Bolt himself.
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