I help my sisters little one (11) with her homework from time to time, her grandad is helping her tonight and has asked me to check the questions as he is finding it challenging, we just had over an hour of discussion on the answers and how they are to be interpretated from the questions and I have to say it puzzles me why they are quite so complex for an 11 year old who is totally confused, I also still think the questions are open to interpretation and this is wrong in basic level maths/science
Anyone else come across this quesion in the school year and had similar feelingsor have me and dad lost it !!
7Id/6 John Tyndall and
the Matterhorn
John Tyndall (1820–1893) was born in Ireland. He was a surveyor and a railway
engineer before becoming a scientist. One of the things he was interested in was
studying glaciers, and he went to the Alps nearly every year. He was the first person
to reach the top of the Weisshorn (4505 m high), and climbed Mont Blanc (4807 m)
several times. In 1860 he had attempted to climb the Matterhorn (4478 m) and
reached nearly 4000 m before having to turn back – but that was the highest anyone
had ever been at the time.
There is a story that Tyndall calculated that the amount of energy needed to climb the
Matterhorn was contained in a ham sandwich, so that was all the food he took with
him! We can do some rough calculations to see if he was right, and if we think the
story is true.
FACT FILE
• In theory, it takes 1 J of energy to lift a 1 N weight by 1 m.
This is the amount of energy it would take for a machine to
lift 1 N, if it didn’t waste any energy.
• The nearest town to the Matterhorn is Zermatt, which is
1620m above sea level.
• The Matterhorn can be climbed and descended in 2 days.
• We don’t know how big Tyndall was, or how much he was
carrying, but we can make some assumptions. He could have
weighed 800 N, and his rucksack, boots and clothes could
have weighed something like 200N.
• An adult male needs to take in 10600kJ of energy a day just
to stay alive, to keep warm and do normal things like eating
and talking.
• A modern mountaineering guide book recommends that the
daily energy requirements should be increased by 10% for every
500m climbed, another 10% if the weather or the ground is
snowy or icy, and another 10% if a heavy rucksack is
being carried.
• A thick slice of bread contains about 400 kJ, a portion of
butter contains 200 kJ, and generous slice of ham
contains 250 kJ.
• 1 kJ = 1000 J.
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Exploring Science for QCA Copymaster File 7 424 © Pearson Education Limited 2002
7Id
Page 2 of 2
7Id/6 John Tyndall and the Matterhorn
(continued)
S numeracy
1 a How far would Tyndall have climbed if he started from Zermatt?
Remember that he was aiming for the top!
b How much energy would it take to lift his total weight this far? Give
your answer in kilojoules.
2 a How much energy would Tyndall have needed just to stay alive for
2 days?
b What is 10% of this amount of energy?
c How much extra energy would Tyndall have needed for the climbing he
was going to do? (Hint: round your answer to question 1a up to the
nearest 1000 m, then divide by 500. Multiply this answer by your
answer to part b.)
d The Matterhorn usually has ice and snow on it, and Tyndall was
probably carrying a rucksack. How much extra energy would he need
for these reasons?
e How much total energy would he have needed?
3 Now work out how much energy is stored in a ham sandwich.
(Remember there are usually two slices of bread!)
4 a How does the energy in a ham sandwich compare with your answer to
question 1?
b How many sandwiches would Tyndall have had to take if he only
needed the energy you calculated in question 1?
5 a How does the energy in a ham sandwich compare with your answer to
question 2?
b Do you think John Tyndall really set off up the Matterhorn with only a
ham sandwich? Try to explain your answer.