I'd put my money on the horses all the way up to at least a 600 h.p. engine. I'm relying on intuition. Has anyone seen evidence of a contest like this? Also, I'm basing horse power on the definition that 1 h.p. equals the amount of work that 1 dray horse can do in an hour. So in the question, assume we're talking about a dray (work) horse team.
2007-02-21 08:11:11 · 5 answers · asked by TzodEarf 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The horses will win. It's going to come down to a question of force, not power.
The force that can be exerted against the ground to push forward will determine which wins. The horses are much more massive and collectively would have much more friction, so they'd win. The car would just spin its tires, wasting its power.
2007-02-21 08:20:17 · answer #1 · answered by Thomas G 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The horses would win due to their collective traction (800 hooves -versus- 4 tyres of a car). Horses have much larger area on the ground
In physics their h.p.'s are supposedly equal at 110,000 ft-lb/sec each.
2007-02-21 08:27:24 · answer #2 · answered by Norrie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The horses, due to their overwhelming better traction, would drag the car effortlessly.
I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing resulted with only 50 horses or even less - the vehicle is never going to fully utilize it's potential to pull - it's just going to spin the tires.
Consider a one horsepower motor, in any configuration, trying to pull a plow through a farmer's field.
2007-02-21 08:37:11 · answer #3 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The horses would win mainly due to their combined weight.
The average weight of an adult horse is around 1,000 pounds. Two hundred horses would weigh 200,000 pounds. A 200 hp engine couldn't move that much weight if the horses were DEAD, much less when the horses are pulling against it.
2007-02-21 09:40:31 · answer #4 · answered by chimpus_incompetus 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Car, more torque
2007-02-21 08:21:52 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋