The equation of motion of a runner, exerting a maximal effort

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
According to the investigations of Furusawa, Hill, and Parkinson, the acceleration of a runner and the maximum speed he can obtain depend on the maximum force he can exert and the fric-tional resistance of his muscles. These factors have been embodied by them in a mathematical equation which has been tested by experiment; the experimental results fit the equation very satisfactorily and allow the values of the constants to be determined. In spite of the verification of the equation by experiment, the internal resistance has to some extent a hypothetical existence. The present paper shows how an actual external resistance can be added to the internal resistance with exactly the calculated effect. This demonstrates that the internal resistance is real, in the sense that it has identically the same effect as an added external resistance. The external resistance was supplied by a light, strong cord attached to the runner''s waist, the other end being wound about a drum, braked by a measurable force.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: