[justonwuckert (OP)]

Wants to know,

Over a distance of 100 m on a flat surface, which would take more energy, 1) walking or 2) on a skateboard?

What do you think?

[chiralSPO]

More information is needed to answer the question: same speed? I assume flat means level (no grade) and with no bumps large enough to impede the wheels (is this correct?) how smooth/slippery is it? is it windy? if so, how much, and which direction compared to direction of motion? how well-oiled is the skateboard? (one could imagine under perfect conditions a single push would allow the skateboarder to eventually make it to the end.)

[Eternal Student]

Hi.

I agree with @chiralSPO,  more information is required.
    However, assuming no wind or air resistance, a perfect skateboard, perfect flat and level surface etc.     Then wheels are better (more efficient) than legs.   

    In principle a person on a skateboard could make the 100m distance without doing any work at all.    If the skateboard was already moving then it just continues as per Newton's Law  ("an object maintains a state of uniform motion unless acted on by a force").     Even if the skateboard was stationary to start with, the person only needs to put in enough work to make the skateboard have some kinetic energy and that's only temporary.  They can give it just a tiny amount of energy and that will be fine, it will eventually reach the end of the 100m journey with that same amount of kinetic energy.   If the person has a dynamo they can push against the skateboard wheels then they can recover that energy if they want at the end of the journey and keep it in a more useful form.
    Meanwhile, walking is an extremely wasteful process by comparison,  heat is produced in the persons muscles as chemical reactions happen,  muscle fibres and tendons get stretched and produce more heat, sound is released each time your foot slaps the floor,  the deformation of your shoes and of the ground each time your foot hits the floor also produces more heat.   Overall the person is required to do work and release heat into the environment every moment they are walking.   There is no realistic way to capture or recover all the energy that is being released into the environment.

Best Wishes.

[alancalverd]

My old boss used to talk about impedance matching. A bike matches a low-impedance surface like a flat road, but you need legs to climb stairs (a fundamental flaw in the evolution of Daleks). And legs are very good on soft sand too. And in water. 

I got involved at one time in the mathematics of agricultural produce transport for developing economies. There was significant enthusiasm for bicycles - easy to repair and needing only human power to shift cargo. But as soon as you look at dirt roads, muddy roads, perishable cargo and actual carrying capacity, you can see that one diesel truck is a far better investment than a hundred bikes.

[GaryMason]

I bet it depends on how you are skateboarding
And, overall, how fast you're walking

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[Colin2B]

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[Deecart]

In principle a person on a skateboard could make the 100m distance without doing any work at all. 

Almost.
The person need to attain the speed of the skateboard before jumping on it. Or if he is already on the skateboard he will need to accelerate the skatebord and his own mass to gain speed.
This need energy.

Now, to answer the question of the OP, we need to know how fast we want to travel.
Because human have a basal energy consumption, just to stay on his feets.
If you need 1 day to make 100m, you will need a lot of energy to stay upgrade and you would better walk (or even run) the 100m instead of use the skateboard.

This is because human is like an octopus, he need energy to maintain posture or he is flange.
If you try to maintain 1kg with your arm, you use energy but paradoxaly there is no displacement (so no work).
If you where a tree or some sort of insect that can lock their exosqueleton, you would not need energy at all to stay upgrade and maintain 1kg.


 

[JesWade21]

It is determined by the terrain. The ollie is a pain to get on and off, so if you have a lot of stairs, ramps, traffic, or obstacles, it's just a pain in the ass and you're better off walking the entire distance.

[JanetSims]

Absolutely right. If you are walking quickly and to a mountain, of course - you will lose more energy.

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[Colin2B]

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