How much is one horsepower?
We know it's "the power of one horse, but what is the baseline for comparison in, say automotive manufacturers that say they have X amount of horsepower in their vehicle.
2006-10-12 01:07:27 · 6 answers · asked by ashley f 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
So far, I think c d has the closest answer. Horsepower is simply a measure of power, just like foot-pounds per unit time, watts or kilowatts, BTUs per unit time, etc. As c d said, it is the amount of energy needed to move 33000 pounds one foot in one minute. In more basic terms, it is a measure of how much energy is needed to do a certain amount of work in a specific time. As for a baseline, one horsepower is the same as about 746 watts. One horsepower is about the same power as half of a basic electric heater (the plug-in type) set to the top setting or 10 75 watt light bulbs. What can be confusing is that power can be in many forms, such as heat, light, movement, electricity, etc., or a combination thereof. As far as cars are concerned, horsepower is a measure of the car's ability to turn gasoline into useful energy, movement. I hope this makes things clearer.
2006-10-12 03:45:44 · answer #1 · answered by Jonathan R 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Horsepower is defined as work done over time. The exact definition of one horsepower is 33,000 lb.ft./minute. Put another way, if you were to lift 33,000 pounds one foot over a period of one minute, you would have been working at the rate of one horsepower. In this case, you'd have expended one horsepower-minute of energy.
2006-10-12 08:18:50 · answer #2 · answered by c b 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I will try to make this simple. Say your car has 1 HP. It would only have the power of 1 HP as you have said. The engine is built say with 325 HP. The ratio is 1 HP of power multiplied by 325 HPs and the torque that 325 horses supplied is applied to the engine by the gear ratio and out out of power. It would take a great deal of time to break it down for you.
2006-10-12 08:18:32 · answer #3 · answered by Ex Head 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
One draft horse expells approximately 10 HP as related to a gasoline engine. So a twelve horse team is equivalent to a
120 HP tractor.
2006-10-12 08:15:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is based on 1 horsepower equally a certain amount of kilowatts of power.
2006-10-12 08:10:03 · answer #5 · answered by holyitsacar 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
work done at the rate of 33000 lb-ft per minute
2006-10-12 22:27:31 · answer #6 · answered by Blissful 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋