lifecycle-kit / bio-laws / costOfTransport

Variable: costOfTransport

const costOfTransport: object

Cost of transport — energy per unit distance per unit mass, J/(kg·m).

Source: Schmidt-Nielsen, K. (1972). "Locomotion: Energy Cost of Swimming, Flying, and Running." Science, 177(4045), 222-228.

Validated across 27 orders of magnitude of body mass, which makes it one of the most robust relationships in the whole of biomechanics. Swimming is cheapest because buoyancy carries the weight; burrowing is brutal because the animal has to move the ground as well as itself.

This is what makes a room's activity genuinely cost something different.

Type Declaration

burrowing

readonly burrowing: (massKg) => number

Parameters

massKg

number

Returns

number

flying

readonly flying: (massKg) => number

Parameters

massKg

number

Returns

number

running

readonly running: (massKg) => number

Parameters

massKg

number

Returns

number

swimming

readonly swimming: (massKg) => number

Parameters

massKg

number

Returns

number