Phys 313 – Real World Measurement

Jessica Tsai
11241072

November 16, 2009

1. Introduction
 The experiment was to measure the mechanical power required to maintain a standard road
racing bicycle at a constant speed on a flat road. It was done on Summit Crescent, North Delta on
October 30th, pm. Weather at the time of the experiment was cloudy but calm, with estimated wind
speed of 0 m/s. However, Summit Crescent was naturally a slight hill, which would be taken into
consideration for the results of the experiment.

1.2 Mechanical Power

Mechanical power required to maintain the bike at a constant speed Pbike is the work done on
the bike per unit of time, or it can be measured as the force Fbike required keeping the bike moving at
a constant speed times the instant velocity ν.
Pbike = Fbike ν = maν
Minimum Fbike is the combined drag on the bike; it is the force required to overcome the
ground friction force and the aerodynamic drag force.
Fbike = fγ + D = μγ mg + (½) CDρAν²
Combine the two equations and Pbike is now:
Pbike = μγ mgν + (½) CDρAν³
The force can be measured by stop pedalling the bike after achieving a relatively stable speed
and noting the velocity-time relationship and at which rate the speed is reduced.

1.3 Derailleur Gears

Derailleur gears are a variable-ratio transmission system commonly used on bicycles,
consisting of a chain, multiple sprockets of different sizes, and a mechanism to move the chain from
one sprocket to another. Shimano 21-speed Road Racing Bike has three gears on the front,controlled
by the left shifter, and even rear gears controlled by the right. If the bike is in the lowest gear, it
indicates that the biker is using the smallest chainwheel and the largest sprocket. The pedals are
moving fast because the chainwheel has the smallest diameter of all three, but the wheels of the bike
are turning slowing. It is suitable for going up steep hills. In this experiment, measurements will be
taken from the 11th gear of the Shimano bike, which has the medium size chainwheel connected to
the 3rd smallest sprocket. The reason for choosing the 11th gear is that the 11th gear is the most
commonly used gear on flat surfaces; it is also the recommended starting gear for every bike ride.

2. Experimental Setup and Procedure

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2.1 Calibrating a Bike Speedometer
The bike speedometer used in this experiment was Sigma BC 1106 DTS Wireless. The
circumference of the wheels was measured for the purpose of calibration. Tire circumference was
measured by rolling the tired on a flat floor until it did a complete revolution (using the valve as the
mark), and then measured the distance travelled in one revolution. The average of five circumference
measurements was 2.114 ± 0.005 m.

2.2 Bike Measurements

Mass of the bike = 14.3 ± 0.05 kg
Mass of the biker = 57.1 ± 0.05 kg
Frontal Area: ½ (0.46 ± 0.005)*(1.44 ± 0.21) = 0.3312 ± 0.0783 m²
Handlebar width = 0.46 ± 0.005 m
Bike Height (with the biker on) = height above the handlebar + height below the handlebar
= 0.54 ± 0.05 m + 0.90 ± 0.05 m = 1.44 ± 0.21 m

2.3 Procedure
1. Find a relatively flat road and windless day.
Test wind direction and estimate its speed by dropping a piece of tissue paper.
2. Set the derailleur gear to gear 11: 2nd gear on the left shifter and the 3rd gear on the right shifter.
3. On a relatively flat road, speed up the bike to approximately 40.0 kmh and stop pedalling.
4. Keep the frontal area (handlebars and the stern) to the 12 o’clock direction and avoid any
wavering.
5. Record the speed shown on the speedometer on a five-second interval with a voice recorder.
6. Repeat procedure 4-6 but from the opposite direction of the road to account for any slight slope or
wind.
7. Repeat procedure 4-7 three times.

4. Data and Calculation

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Gear 11
Trial 1 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 3
Direction:
N S N S N S
Speed Speed Speed Speed Speed Speed Speed Speed Speed Speed Speed Speed
Time (s) (kmh) (ms) (kmh) (ms) (kmh) (ms) (kmh) (ms) (kmh) (ms) (kmh) (ms)
0.00 41.50 11.53 40.50 11.25 41.00 11.39 42.00 11.67 39.60 11.00 40.00 11.11
5.00 41.50 11.53 40.50 11.25 41.00 11.39 42.00 11.67 39.60 11.00 40.00 11.11
10.00 41.50 11.53 40.50 11.25 41.00 11.39 42.00 11.67 39.60 11.00 40.00 11.11
15.00 41.50 11.53 40.50 11.25 40.90 11.36 42.00 11.67 39.50 10.97 40.00 11.11
20.00 41.30 11.47 40.50 11.25 40.80 11.33 42.00 11.67 39.30 10.92 40.00 11.11
25.00 41.10 11.42 40.40 11.22 40.20 11.17 42.00 11.67 39.00 10.83 40.30 11.19
30.00 40.00 11.11 40.20 11.17 40.00 11.11 41.70 11.58 38.60 10.72 40.10 11.14
35.00 38.60 10.72 39.90 11.08 39.30 10.92 41.10 11.42 38.10 10.58 39.50 10.97
40.00 38.20 10.61 39.50 10.97 38.20 10.61 40.20 11.17 37.50 10.42 39.40 10.94
45.00 37.00 10.28 39.00 10.83 37.10 10.31 39.00 10.83 36.80 10.22 39.00 10.83
50.00 36.50 10.14 38.40 10.67 36.70 10.19 38.50 10.69 35.90 9.97 38.30 10.64
55.00 34.10 9.47 37.50 10.42 34.80 9.67 37.30 10.36 34.50 9.58 37.40 10.39
60.00 33.00 9.17 35.90 9.97 33.40 9.28 35.80 9.94 33.00 9.17 35.50 9.86
65.00 31.80 8.83 34.10 9.47 31.80 8.83 34.40 9.56 31.10 8.64 34.20 9.50
70.00 30.10 8.36 32.80 9.11 30.90 8.58 32.60 9.06 29.70 8.25 32.60 9.06
75.00 27.60 7.67 31.30 8.69 29.10 8.08 31.60 8.78 27.30 7.58 31.30 8.69
80.00 25.20 7.00 30.00 8.33 27.50 7.64 30.50 8.47 24.50 6.81 30.10 8.36
85.00 23.00 6.39 28.60 7.94 24.50 6.81 28.40 7.89 22.60 6.28 28.50 7.92
90.00 21.70 6.03 27.40 7.61 22.60 6.28 27.20 7.56 20.80 5.78 27.40 7.61
95.00 19.50 5.42 25.50 7.08 20.20 5.61 25.30 7.03 18.50 5.14 25.20 7.00
100.00 17.90 4.97 23.80 6.61 19.10 5.31 22.90 6.36 16.40 4.56 22.60 6.28

Fig. 1 the graph is not fitted due to the constant speed in the front of each line.
Power Constant Velocity
Gear 11 Slope (acceleration) (W) (m/s)

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 Trial 1
Direction: N -0.0846078 ± 0.003719 69.65 11.53
Direction: S -0.0719297 ± 0.003241 57.78 11.25
Trial 2
Direction: N -0.0816471 ± 0.003921 65.93 11.31
Direction: S -0.07385 ± 0.003513 57.87 11.67
Trial 3
Direction: N -0.0810422 ± 0.00522 64.44 11.00
Direction: S -0.080951 ± 0.003575 64.21 11.11
Average -0.79587967 ± 0.003824 63.39 11.31

Fig. 2 The Power vs. Velocity graph of all six measurements.

The slope of Fig.2 was the minimum force required to keep the bike at a constant speed. Fit
the data points with f(x) = a* x + b and got the slope from the final set of parameters to be 1.26819 ±
0.07974 N.
1.26819 = μγmg + (½)CDρAν² = μγ(71.4)(9.81) + (½)CD(1.22)(11.31)² = 700.434μγ +
32.83CD
Here ρ = 1.22 was used, based on the temperature measured at the site of experiment to be 14.7 ℃.
CD was estimated to be around 4.7.
μγ was estimated to be 0.218.
However, the data distribution and the numerical result of the slope did not make sense.
Therefore, discard the lowest two data points and fit the graph again to have:

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 Fig. 3 re-fit the graph by discarding the lowest two data points.

Then, the slope was found to be 10.1623 ± 2.516 N = 700.434μγ + 32.83CD.

CD was estimated to be around 5.0.
μγ was estimated to be 0.22..

5. Discussion & Conclusion

In this experiment, it was observed, that, although towards both directions the bike
decelerated eventually, towards the North the bike had a greater acceleration in comparison with
biking towards the South. This indicated that towards the South, the road was in slight up hill. The
average mechanical power extracted from the speed-time relationship was 63.39 ± 0.042 W, and the
average minimum force required to maintain the bike at a constant speed was 10.1623 ± 2.516 N.
Both drag coefficient and the coefficient of the road were estimated by putting guessed valued into
the equation of minimum force; the values were found to be: CD = 5.0 and μγ = 0.22.