Historic and pre-historic energy use
Stories from Physics
for 11-14
14-16
A paper has estimated the power output of a single Norman water mill as around 1.3 kW and, using the number of mills listed in the Doomsday Book of 1086, calculated the total power output of Norman millers to be around 7.8 MW.
A researcher at the University of Leeds has produced a series of estimates for the energies involved in fights between pre-historic creatures. It is estimated that a tail blow by a Doedicurus, a heavily armoured relative of the armadillo, could transfer around 2.5 kJ.
Referwnces
Historic energy use
L .J. Holdsworth, E. I. Spender, A. L. Bentley, & A. R. Fogg, The Power of Norman England. Physics Special Topics, vol. 14, no. 1 2015, pp. 1-2.
R. M. Alexander, Mechanics of fighting by extinct animals. Physics Education, vol. 36, no. 5, 2001, pp. 415-418.
