2006-10-12 14:39:03 · 6 answers · asked by superrocketnerd 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
The term "horsepower" was invented by James Watt to help market his improved steam engine. He had previously agreed to take royalties of one third of the savings in coal from the older Newcomen steam engines[5]. This royalty scheme did not work with customers who did not have existing steam engines but used horses instead. Watt determined that a horse could turn a mill wheel 144 times in an hour (or 2.4 times a minute). The wheel was 12 feet in radius, thus in a minute the horse travelled 2.4 × 2π × 12 feet. Watt judged that the horse could pull with a force of 180 pounds (just assuming that the measurements of mass were equivalent to measurements of force in pounds-force, which were not well-defined units at the time).
2006-10-12 18:36:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It might equate to that metrically but i assure you, hp was derived from the number of horses needed to stop the motion.
Hence when cars were invented, if 2 horses could stop the wheels turning, the car had less than 2hp at the wheel. If it took 3 horses to stop the crankshaft in the engine, it had less than 3hp at the crankshaft
2006-10-12 21:43:30 · answer #2 · answered by m c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it proved impractical for the Bureau of Standards to maintain a Standard Horse, so a numerical value was determined.
2006-10-13 01:53:58 · answer #3 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is the amount of power a horse can produce ... okay, a big work horse. They just put a number on it to standardize it.
2006-10-12 21:42:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes, I do
2006-10-12 22:00:37 · answer #5 · answered by Felix_Da_Cat 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
duh.
2006-10-12 21:50:47 · answer #6 · answered by iammisc 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋