Suppose your mass is 72.5 kg and you climb 40 stairs of height 18 cm in 17.0 s. What is your power output as you climb the stairs?

Your power output as you climb the stairs is 300.92 Watts.

Explanation:

Power is the amount of work per unit of time that some object or system produces. Power is calculated by:

Power is measured in watts (W), equivalent to one joule (J) of work done per second (s).

Work is defined in physics as the force that is applied to a body to move it from one point to another. The work is calculated as the multiplication of the force by the distance:

Work = F*d

Newton's second law says that the acceleration of a body is proportional to the resultant of forces on the acting and inversely proportional to its mass. This is expressed by the equation:

F=m*a

In this case,  

considering that the force of gravity acting on you, the force is:

F=m*a= 72.5 kg * 9.8 =710.5 N

The distance is the multiplication between the number of stairs and the height of the stairs in meters (18 cm= 0.18 m, being 100 cm= 1 m):

d = 40 * 0.18 m= 7.2 m

Then:

Work= 710.5 N* 7.2 m

Work= 5,115.6 J

So finally the power can be calculated as:

P= 300.92 Watts

Your power output as you climb the stairs is 300.92 Watts.

wavelength divides in half and speed stays the same.