Human power is work or energy

Energy

In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...

 that is produced from the human body

Human body

The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...

. It can also refer to the power

Power (physics)

In physics, power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed. For example, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit...

 (rate of work per time) of a human. Power comes primarily from muscles, but body heat

Body heat

Body Heat is a 1981 film by Lawrence Kasdan.Body Heat may also refer to:*Body heat or thermoregulation, the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries*Body Heat...

 is also used to do work like warming shelter

Shelter

Shelter is a basic architectural structure or building that provides cover. The word may also refer to:-Places:*Port Shelter, Hong Kong*Shelter Bay , various locations*Shelter Cove , various locations...

s, food, or other humans.

World records of power performance by humans are of interest to work planners and work-process engineers. The average level of human power that can be maintained over a certain duration of time, say over the extent of one minute or one hour is interesting to engineers designing work operations in industry. Human power is sometimes used to generate electricity that is stored.

Human-powered transport

Several forms of transport

Transport

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...

 utilize human power. They include the bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

, wheelchair

Wheelchair

A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...

, walking

Walking

Walking is one of the main gaits of locomotion among legged animals, and is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step...

, skateboard

Skateboard

A skateboard is typically a specially designed plywood board combined with a polyurethane coating used for making smoother slides and stronger durability, used primarily for the activity of skateboarding. The first skateboards to reach public notice came out of the surfing craze of the early 1960s,...

, wheelbarrow

Wheelbarrow

A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...

, rowing

Watercraft rowing

Watercraft rowing is the act of propelling a boat using the motion of oars in the water. The difference between paddling and rowing is that with rowing the oars have a mechanical connection with the boat whereas with paddling the paddles are hand-held with no mechanical connection.This article...

, ski

Ski

A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...

s, and rickshaw. Some forms may utilize more than one person. The historical galley was propelled by freemen or citizens in ancient times, and by slaves captured by pirates in more recent times.

Human-powered aircraft

For much of history, human power has been insufficient for steady flight. The Gossamer Condor

Gossamer Condor

-See also:-Further reading:*Morton Grosser. Gossamer Odyssey: The Triumph of Human-Powered Flight. MBI Press, 2004; Dover Publications, Inc., 1991; Houghton Mifflin Co., 1981*Morton Grosser. On Gossamer Wings. York Custom Graphics, 1982...

 was the first human-powered aircraft capable of controlled and sustained flight, making its first flight in 1977. Since 1988, Daedalus

MIT Daedalus

The MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's Daedalus was a human-powered aircraft that, on 23 April 1988, flew a distance of 71.5 mi in 3 hours, 54 minutes, from Iraklion on the island of Crete to the island of Santorini...

 holds the records for longest distance and duration for human-powered aircraft. The Daedalus pilot had to generate a mechanical power of 3.5 W

Watt

The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

/kg (1.6 W/lb) (dependent on the pilot's weight) to maintain flight.

Human-powered equipment

Some equipment utilize human power. They may utilize immediate mechanical power from muscles or store

Energy storage

Energy storage is accomplished by devices or physical media that store some form of energy to perform some useful operation at a later time. A device that stores energy is sometimes called an accumulator....

d electrical power generated by the body.