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2007-04-20 10:30:57 · 2 answers · asked by DA BOSS OF MAC DRE 1 in Science & Mathematics Engineering

2 answers

The term horsepower was invented by the engineer James Watt in 1782. Watt (1736 to 1819) is most famous for his work on improving the performance of steam engines.

Watt was working with ponies lifting coal at a coal mine, and he wanted to define the power available from one of these animals. He found that, on average, a mine pony could do 22,000 foot-pounds (lift a bucket of coal weighing 22,000 lb. a distance of 1-foot) of work in a minute. He then increased that number by 50 percent and fixed the measurement of horsepower at 33,000-foot-pounds of work in one minute.

Under this system, one horsepower is defined as:

1 hp = 33,000 ft·pound-force·min−1 = exactly 745.69987158227022 W

2007-04-20 15:31:19 · answer #1 · answered by Thomas C 6 · 0 0

He made the observation about the problem of condensation in the design of a steam engine. 80% of the steam was being used to keep the cylinder hot. He wasn't the first to observe this, but ... He was *then* bright enough to design an engine where the steam condensed in a separate chamber apart from the piston, and this is what allowed the efficiency that made the steam engine truly viable. That in turn paved the way for its use in industry and transportation.

2007-04-20 10:37:35 · answer #2 · answered by C Anderson 5 · 0 0

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