OT - Human power

mrc1

I was channel flicking last night and stumbled upon an episode of mythbusters that was testing the corked baseball bat myth. Turned out that corking the bat (ie illegally putting a core of springy cork inside the bat) didn't increase the distance the ball could be hit (the record is around 200m according to their sources).

During it they were talking about how far a human can hit/propel an object and I have been trying to think of the answer (quiet day).

Seems like the record for throwing a baseball is around 135m which is a looooong way. I can't think of anything that a human could throw/kick etc farther without any equipment to assist?

Football and rugby kicking distances aren't that impressive in the grand scheme of things (although there have been some suprisingly long place kicks in American Football). The paper aeroplane record seems to be around the 33m mark.

Using a piece of equipment to help helps extend things massively -

The longest golf drive is a staggering 761m according to wikipedia and the distance record for shooting an arrow from a hand held bow is 1222m which is crazy.

But can a human hit/throw/kick something further with or without assistance?

mercedism

frisbee 211 metres

flimflam_machine

Aerobie - 406.3 metres

If something's carried by the wind it can obviously go quite a bit further, but that probably doesn't count.

Here's the current world record

bigmat

Not sure where you draw the line on "human powered" e.g. I could throw a balloon in the air on a windy day and it could go for miles! Assuming it has to be in a specific direction, not wind assisted, I suggest a javelin type object could go a long way. They keep redesigning the Olympic javelin to keep its range within what a stadium can accommodate, if one was designed urely with distance in mind than 135m might be doable?

tgotb

Depends what you mean by "propel". I can propel myself and my bike many miles; Gossamer Albatross crossed the Channel under human propulsion without touching the ground (or water). I don't think these are in the spirit of your question though...

If we're restricting ourselves to projectiles, things like bows store energy (you put the energy in when you draw the bow). How long are you allowed to spend storing energy? For instance I can imagine a giant crossbow which takes half a day to wind up using a gearing mechanism...

rjsterry

mrc1 wrote:

... and the distance record for shooting an arrow from a hand held bow is 1222m which is crazy.

F*** me, that's a long way. That must have taken some force to pull that bow string back.

mudcow007

flimflam_machine wrote:

Aerobie - 406.3 metres

If something's carried by the wind it can obviously go quite a bit further, but that probably doesn't count.

Here's the current world record

ive got one of them for my Collie, i can confirm without a shadow of a doubt them their things fly a looooong way

mrc1

TGOTB wrote:

If we're restricting ourselves to projectiles, things like bows store energy (you put the energy in when you draw the bow). How long are you allowed to spend storing energy? For instance I can imagine a giant crossbow which takes half a day to wind up using a gearing mechanism...

Yeah im thinking projectiles - but don't think I'll allow anything that use outside assistance to store the power ie a winch or ratchet.

Aerobie looks to be a big old distance so maybe thats the winner!

flimflam_machine

mudcow007 wrote:

ive got one of them for my Collie, i can confirm without a shadow of a doubt them their things fly a looooong way

Collies fly a long way?! You're sick man! Sick!

bails87

mrc1 wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

If we're restricting ourselves to projectiles, things like bows store energy (you put the energy in when you draw the bow). How long are you allowed to spend storing energy? For instance I can imagine a giant crossbow which takes half a day to wind up using a gearing mechanism...

Yeah im thinking projectiles - but don't think I'll allow anything that use outside assistance to store the power ie a winch or ratchet.

Aerobie looks to be a big old distance so maybe thats the winner!

Where's that video of the The Amazing Race melon smash......?

gabriel959

mrc1 wrote:

I was channel flicking last night and stumbled upon an episode of mythbusters that was testing the corked baseball bat myth. Turned out that corking the bat (ie illegally putting a core of springy cork inside the bat) didn't increase the distance the ball could be hit (the record is around 200m according to their sources).

During it they were talking about how far a human can hit/propel an object and I have been trying to think of the answer (quiet day).

Seems like the record for throwing a baseball is around 135m which is a looooong way. I can't think of anything that a human could throw/kick etc farther without any equipment to assist?

Football and rugby kicking distances aren't that impressive in the grand scheme of things (although there have been some suprisingly long place kicks in American Football). The paper aeroplane record seems to be around the 33m mark.

Using a piece of equipment to help helps extend things massively -

The longest golf drive is a staggering 761m according to wikipedia and the distance record for shooting an arrow from a hand held bow is 1222m which is crazy.

But can a human hit/throw/kick something further with or without assistance?

Paper Airplane is a lot more than 33 meters!

66 meters is the world record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wedcZp07raE

clarkey cat

wellington boot?

marchant

gabriel959 wrote:

mrc1 wrote:

I was channel flicking last night and stumbled upon an episode of mythbusters that was testing the corked baseball bat myth. Turned out that corking the bat (ie illegally putting a core of springy cork inside the bat) didn't increase the distance the ball could be hit (the record is around 200m according to their sources).

During it they were talking about how far a human can hit/propel an object and I have been trying to think of the answer (quiet day).

Seems like the record for throwing a baseball is around 135m which is a looooong way. I can't think of anything that a human could throw/kick etc farther without any equipment to assist?

Football and rugby kicking distances aren't that impressive in the grand scheme of things (although there have been some suprisingly long place kicks in American Football). The paper aeroplane record seems to be around the 33m mark.

Using a piece of equipment to help helps extend things massively -

The longest golf drive is a staggering 761m according to wikipedia and the distance record for shooting an arrow from a hand held bow is 1222m which is crazy.

But can a human hit/throw/kick something further with or without assistance?

Paper Airplane is a lot more than 33 meters!

66 meters is the world record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wedcZp07raE

I'm surprised Mythbusters haven't taken on any paper plane myths; they've made concrete gliders, and the lead balloon was amazing to watch (both the construction and flight)

Kieran_Burns

Trebuchet?

rjsterry

marchant wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

mrc1 wrote:

I was channel flicking last night and stumbled upon an episode of mythbusters that was testing the corked baseball bat myth. Turned out that corking the bat (ie illegally putting a core of springy cork inside the bat) didn't increase the distance the ball could be hit (the record is around 200m according to their sources).

During it they were talking about how far a human can hit/propel an object and I have been trying to think of the answer (quiet day).

Seems like the record for throwing a baseball is around 135m which is a looooong way. I can't think of anything that a human could throw/kick etc farther without any equipment to assist?

Football and rugby kicking distances aren't that impressive in the grand scheme of things (although there have been some suprisingly long place kicks in American Football). The paper aeroplane record seems to be around the 33m mark.

Using a piece of equipment to help helps extend things massively -

The longest golf drive is a staggering 761m according to wikipedia and the distance record for shooting an arrow from a hand held bow is 1222m which is crazy.

But can a human hit/throw/kick something further with or without assistance?

Paper Airplane is a lot more than 33 meters!

66 meters is the world record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wedcZp07raE

I'm surprised Mythbusters haven't taken on any paper plane myths; they've made concrete gliders, and the lead balloon was amazing to watch (both the construction and flight)

There are a load of concrete barges beached somewhere on the Severn Estuary.

rick_chasey

Re human power, cycling always impresses me - how far and fast a human can go on a bike.

Isn't the efficiency of even an average bike around 95% odd?

SimonAH

What's the record for tossing a dwarf I wonder?

FoldingJoe

Give me a piece of bamboo cane about 30cm's long, a couple of playing cards and a piece of string and I could make something that could fly about 100 mtrs.

tgotb

rjsterry wrote:

There are a load of concrete barges beached somewhere on the Severn Estuary.

There have been some very competitive racing yachts built from ferroconcrete; the famous Sydney-Hobart race was once won by a concrete boat colloquially known as the Flying Footpath...

The Rookie

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Trebuchet?

Thats the one at Warwick castle, with said abode in the background! Humans enter the giant "hamster wheel's" each side to wind it up.

As for throwing, there was a bizarre throwing assistor for javelins that effectively doubled the human arm length and probably allowed a range of circa 250m, does that count, otherwise something that 'floats' like the aerobie will always win as it's not merely a case of initial velocity versus gravity which limits most other objects.

kelsen

SimonAH wrote:

What's the record for tossing a dwarf I wonder?

20 to 30 seconds maybe?

FoldingJoe

kelsen wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

What's the record for tossing a dwarf I wonder?

20 to 30 seconds maybe?

I hope that isn't *first hand* experience, Kelsen!?!?

jimmypippa

SimonAH wrote:

What's the record for tossing a dwarf I wonder?

25-seconds

jimmypippa

^^^

Doh

SimonAH

At least you're dead in the middle of the previous estimate, if uncharitable I would be considering that there is some shared real-life knowledge going on here :-D

SimonAH

Jimmypippa and Kelsen sitting in a tree (with a dwarf) T-O-S-S-I-N-G :-D

Kieran_Burns

jimmypippa wrote:

^^^

Doh

His hands were full....

mr_ribble

Rick Chasey wrote:

Re human power, cycling always impresses me - how far and fast a human can go on a bike.

Isn't the efficiency of even an average bike around 95% odd?

Yea, I read somewhere that they calculated a bike to be 96% efficient of something like that. A s/s with some uber ceramic bb and teflon coated chain would be very efficient. Some of those BSO's with buckled wheels rubbing against the brakes ~50%!

Then take a car, which when comparing the calorific content of petrol versus the power output is never going to exceed 40% due to thermal constraints on how an internal combustion operates.. On average, its more like 20%. In addition lots more moving parts, more friction etc - think of all that heat coming from the engine which is wasted energy in the sense of forward propulsion.

Ironically jet engines are massively more efficient, but their use doesn't seem to have to have taken off.....boom boom

kelsen

FoldingJoe wrote:

kelsen wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

What's the record for tossing a dwarf I wonder?

20 to 30 seconds maybe?

I hope that isn't *first hand* experience, Kelsen!?!?

I wouldn't know for sure. It was a shot in the dark......

marchant

The Beginner wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Trebuchet?
As for throwing, there was a bizarre throwing assistor for javelins that effectively doubled the human arm length and probably allowed a range of circa 250m, does that count, otherwise something that 'floats' like the aerobie will always win as it's not merely a case of initial velocity versus gravity which limits most other objects.

atlatl?

Ben6899

What's the record distance for kicking a regulation size and weight football? Yes; football boots are equipment, but I can honestly kick a ball further in bare feet. Cleaner contact.

It stings a bit, but you just have to MTFU.