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horse power

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bob72 | 14:04 Tue 20th Sep 2005 | Science
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What does horse power really mean
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The amount of work required to lift 33,000 pounds 1 foot in 1 minute...
Horsepower is the power developed in the cylinder(s) of an engine. Some of this is absorbed by friction in various engine-parts. The power that remains - ie the power that can actually be used - is called 'brake horsepower'. It was so-called because the level of power was measured by means of applying a brake to stop the engine-shaft from turning. After Watt and his steam engine developments, 1 HP became a conventional mechanical unit described as "550 foot pounds per second"
To give you some idea of the "horse" significance, this is roughly about half as strong again as a real horse!

It is a unit of power, not work.
Fortunately the metric system was also invented...
1 hp = 746 W

Actually, for metric conversions 1hp = 735.499 watts.

Have a look here for everything you (n)ever wanted to know about units.

http://www.ex.ac.uk/cimt/dictunit/dictunit.htm#power

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