Phys 87: Problems for Thinking Like a Physicist

Winter quarter, 2015

• How many kids are laughing so hard right now that milk (or cultural equivalent) is streaming from their noses?
• How many parking spot painters must UCSD employ to keep the spaces and associated deisgnations painted and in good shape?
• What is the metabolic power (in Watts) of a human being?
• How fast can a human cycle (flat and on hills; drag problem)?
• What is the daily breathing mass loss of a human?
• How many miles per gallon do we expect a car to get?
• How many barrels of oil are consumed daily in the United States?
• At some constant growth rate in energy, how long before we would consume all the power from all the stars in the Milky Way galaxy?
• Lots of great problems on estimating energy resources (solar, wind, hydroelectric)
• How much area does a rooftop PV array have to be to satisfy the average household demand; how much will it cost; how long to break even with utility payments?
• How much energy does each 2-liter bottle of water/soda take to transport it across typical distribution distances?
• How long does it take to boil and egg or cook a turkey?
• How much energy (or really, power) does it take to heat a home?
• More to come!