Convert horsepower to duck power

[Jamison Lahman]

The to-scale mill wheel is the easy part, in fact I might even volunteer; assuming you train the ducks.

That's why I made the duck statement the conditional. I don't have any ducks to train :/

 

[Tom.G]

I don't have any ducks to train :/

 

[OmCheeto]

it seems we are missing something here.

Does anyone remember a thread I started a few year back? I wonder if it's possible to determine the energy efficiency of a duck?

searching PF for: duck efficiency
yielded no results
so I searched for: human body efficiency
and came up with roughly 20%
[ref 1: ≈30%][ref 2: 14%][ref 3: 20%]

1.8 million calories expended in 30 hours calculates to 1 Duck Power = 69.8 W (0.094 hp)

Assuming ducks are as efficient as humans, I believe 1 Duck Power should be closer to 69.8/5 = 14 W
Though many people claim that physically fit humans are more efficient than people like me, and ducks seem quite fit, IMHO, so it's probably a bit higher than 14 watts. Which indicates to me, that 42 is the answer.

hp/dp   dp/hp   watts   method/source
0.0070  143      5.2    Interpolation by horse, human, duck, point slope method
0.0073  137      5.4    Fine structure constant [why not]
0.013    75      9.9    Jamison Lahman's reference
0.017    60     12      4Chan upper range
0.019    53     14      Mech Eng * 20%
0.024    42     18      Kleiber's Law/ Douglas Adams
0.040    25     30      4Chan lower range
0.094    11     70      Mech Eng
------  -----   -----   ----------------------
0.018    57     13      median

Note 1: Birds, and therefore I assume ducks, although capable, do not pass gas [ref]

 

[jtbell]

http://www.exo.net/~donr/activities/Duckpower.pdf

One of my classmates in grad school told me that as an undergraduate student assistant, he had given a similar exercise involving "dipping ducks". The comparison was to a nearby power plant operated by the Duke Power Company (in North Carolina), so the desired conversion factor was "ducks per Duke."

 

[Jamison Lahman]

it seems we are missing something here.

Does anyone remember a thread I started a few year back? I wonder if it's possible to determine the energy efficiency of a duck?

View attachment 209784

searching PF for: duck efficiency
yielded no results
so I searched for: human body efficiency
and came up with roughly 20%
[ref 1: ≈30%][ref 2: 14%][ref 3: 20%]
Assuming ducks are as efficient as humans, I believe 1 Duck Power should be closer to 69.8/5 = 14 W
Though many people claim that physically fit humans are more efficient than people like me, and ducks seem quite fit, IMHO, so it's probably a bit higher than 14 watts. Which indicates to me, that 42 is the answer.

hp/dp   dp/hp   watts   method/source
0.0070  143      5.2    Interpolation by horse, human, duck, point slope method
0.0073  137      5.4    Fine structure constant [why not]
0.013    75      9.9    Jamison Lahman's reference
0.017    60     12      4Chan upper range
0.019    53     14      Mech Eng * 20%
0.024    42     18      Kleiber's Law/ Douglas Adams
0.040    25     30      4Chan lower range
0.094    11     70      Mech Eng
------  -----   -----   ----------------------
0.018    57     13      median

Note 1: Birds, and therefore I assume ducks, although capable, do not pass gas [ref]

If birds have eliminated the need to pass gas, I see no problem with eliminating the exhaust path in the energy split diagram. Furthermore, I concur that ducks seem reasonably fit and the notion they're more efficient than large, energy hungry humans makes sense to me. I conclude that one duckpower is most likely 29±15 W. Since 42 is within one standard deviation, I see no problem with using that as the accepted value (assuming no experimental evidence countering this).

 

[KuroganeKiba]

Given that I know of no fractional ducks, I believe that your inference that 42 is close enough to the answer, makes me trust that Mr. Adams was correct.

Gentleman, there's something you are not understanding, you have reached the ultimate question!

"The Answer to the Great Question... Of Life, the Universe and Everything... Is... Forty-two,' said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm."

The Earth was created to calculate the question, since Deep Thought could only say the answer, and we finally made it!

 

[Zonker]

Out of my league but I am a geek... and this bit seems important. Also, I need an answer too.

One metric horsepower is needed to lift 75 kilograms by 1 metre in 1 second

 

[CWatters]

Yes

Power = force*velocity

Force = 75kg*10m=750N
Velocity = 1*1=1m/s

Power= 750*=750Watts=1hp

 

[e_epistle]

Squirrelpower website uses two "completely different methods for computing Squirrelpower that came up with surprisingly similar results. we decided to take our numbers and choose the average of the two."
https://eagletalon.net/squirrelpower/
How much Squirrelpower does your car produce? Enter the horsepower of your car below and hit the calculate button to find out how much SquirrelPower (sqp) it produces...
Summary
...
"That’s right – based on math, geekness and subjective thinking, 1200 squirrels can do the work of one horse!"
Now is that NUTS or what? LOL

 

[Samuel Sawyer]

@Simon Bridge using the information you provided I calculated approximately 88.24851 Dp in one Hp

 

[DaveC426913]

Well, I'm off to find 89 ducks, a horse, and a length of good, strong rope...

 

[Tom.G]

Well, I'm off to find 89 ducks, a horse, and a length of good, strong rope...

Horse Collars are still around. Duck Collars, not so much.

Tom

 

[CH WILSON]

This all seems pretty much a waste of time, particularly when we observe that 1 hp has little or no bearing on the power output from any particular horse at any particular instant.

If it makes me laugh you didn't waste your time! Maybe I'm wasting mine but...
So far nobody seems to have addressed the power required to fly which will be a far more energetic mode of transport than swimming.

 

[DaveC426913]

Duck Collars [sic]

Here's one:

 

[Jonas Tingmose]

So far nobody seems to have addressed the power required to fly which will be a far more energetic mode of transport than swimming.

Especially for the horse...

Come to think about it, that's another good question. How wildly must a horse flail its legs, in order to achieve flight?

 

[Mech_Engineer]

So far nobody seems to have addressed the power required to fly which will be a far more energetic mode of transport than swimming.

It was addressed in post #26: Convert horsepower to duck power

Fat stores accumulated prior to and during migration come in handy because flight is among the most energetically costly activities that waterfowl undertake. Ducks burn 12 times more energy in flight than at rest. The energetic costs of flying are proportional to the size of the bird—the bigger the bird, the more energy required.

http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/understanding-waterfowl-fat-is-fit

 

[ronald wisner]

Remember, the primary flight muscles are the strongest part of a duck not his webbed feet.

 

[D34thFl45h1]

400 Horsepower is about 16806.72268907563 Duckpower. I used this calculator: http://feinmechanik-rosenheim.de/horsepower-to-duckpower-calculator/?

 

[OmCheeto]

400 Horsepower is about 16806.72268907563 Duckpower. I used this calculator: http://feinmechanik-rosenheim.de/horsepower-to-duckpower-calculator/?

42, again...

When I die, I'm going to kick Doug in the balls.