If I had a chainsaw hand...?

Question

Hypothetically if I had a chainsaw arm that used the fuel I used from calories, how long could the chainsaw stay on?

Answer 1

1 food calorie/second is equivalent to about 4200 Watts, which is about 3 Horsepower

You can burn food at a nominal rate of 0.02 calories/second so you are generating about 0.06 HP -- not *quite* enough to power a chainsaw hand.

The most power I can personally generate on a bicycle is a peak of about 1/3 to 1/2HP for short periods of time.  For my arms/hands it is much less.

Think about how fast you can saw through a piece of wood with a handsaw versus how much time it takes to saw through the same piece of wood with a chainsaw.  See the difference?

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