Speed/Weight

[rlarson]

I used to run track and had a teammate that ran virtually identical times to me in everything we did. He was a bigger guy (5'11" 180lbs. vs. 5'8" 145lbs.) and much stronger than me in the weight room.

I've always been curious about something and am not sure how the physics behind it works. If we raced eachother with 25lb. backpacks on would he now have an advantage? My intuition says yes.

[Gza]

You can't really use an argument from physics to answer this, since your reaction to the extra weight is more a function of your bodies ability to create power. There isn't a simple physical explanation for how it does. But I would probably agree with your rough reasoning.

[JohnDubYa]

Increase the weight of the backpack to (say) 100 pounds. What do you think now?