Blog 5: Physics of "Rocky"

After an exciting Homecoming week, I am finally ready to settle back into the fascinating world of physics. Looking back on Homecoming week, though, I can make many connections to physics, even after the rowdiest of celebrations. Here in this video, the ever-entertaining Mr. Park rocks out to the "Rocky" theme song:

Today's lesson in Pre-Calculus Honors: How to be awesome.

Hearing that spirited song now immediately conjures the image of Rocky Balboa climbing those 72 steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in intense training. However, I now understand the physics behind Rocky's training, and why it was so impressive.

After watching his ascent again, I estimate the time it took for him to climb those steps to be a little less than 7 seconds. With such a small time, sprinting with great acceleration (he had the entire city chasing after him) over a long and high distance, and a relatively large mass (probably about 100 kg), his power would be very high given the equation P= W/t = [(ma)(∆x)/t]. With such power, no wonder Rocky was so successful.

Go Rocky!

(Thanks to Mr. Park for the inspiration.)