What IS "Horsepower " ? AND, What Does A Lightbulb Have In Common With Horsepower ?

Just what is "Horsepower" ? Who figured it out ? AND, what does a lightbulb have in common with horsepower ? A non-car guy friend of mine asked me about this recently and it started me thinking. SO, being the stickler for details that I am, I did some research and found the answer at the C2Motorsports Site:

“The term horsepower was invented by the engineer JAMES WATT. Watt lived from 1736 to 1819 and is most famous for his work on improving the performance of steam engines. We are also reminded of him every day when we talk about 60-WATT light bulbs.

The story goes that Watt was working with ponies lifting coal at a coal mine, and he wanted a way to talk about the power available from one of these animals. He found that, on average, a mine pony could do 22,000 foot-pounds of work in a minute. He then increased that number by 50 percent and pegged the measurement of horsepower at 33,000 foot-pounds of work in one minute. It is that arbitrary unit of measure that has made its way down through the centuries and now appears on your car, your lawn mower, your chain saw and even in some cases your vacuum cleaner.

What horsepower means is this: In Watt’s judgement, one horse can do 33,000 foot-pounds of work every minute. So, imagine a horse raising coal out of a coal mine: A horse exerting 1 horsepower can raise 330 pounds of coal 100 feet in a minute, or 33 pounds of coal 1,000 feet in one minute, or 1,000 pounds 33 feet in one minute. You can make up whatever combination of feet and pounds you like. As long as the product is 33,000 foot-pounds in one minute, you have a horsepower.”

I shared all of this info with my friend, he thanked me, and said his non-car guy life is now complete ! (lol)

All the best to my H.A.M.B. friends, and many, many thanks for your help and support.

Jonnie King www.legends.thewwbc.net

 

OK.
Now explain the relation between HP and Torque.

 

Torque X rpm = horsepower?

 

HP = TQ/RPM x 5252, so all dyno graphs cross horsepower and torque at 5252 rpm, unless of course the engine never gets to that RPM.

 

He did. Foot/Pounds per minute, or torque over time.
And Gotgas nailed it in terms of engines and dynos.

 

torque is a rotational force exerted upon an object. described in lb's of effort (force) applied at a foot (or inch) of distance from the rotational axis of that object.

hp is not a force, but a way of expressing the amount of work that can be done when a certain amount of torque (force) is applied over a specific amount of time.

how did Watt measure this? and how did people prove their hoss was the boss hoss?

the ponybrake. i've seen a couple- the original dyno, kinda neet

 

Torque gets the work done, Horsepower is how quick the work gets done. Horsepower is measured, Torque is calculated.

Torque is always multiplied.

Anything else?

 

Just A Note: The explanation wasn't from me, I found it by doing some research, BUT, it was just the simple form not overly complicated.

Neat thing about it is: at least it's something to think about over the weekend !

Many thanks to all for your input...love the H.A.M.B. Everyone here is the B-E-S-T !

JK

 

Huh? I thought horsepower was measured by the size of muffler pipes and wings? Guess I was wrong.

 

Of course you are wrong. Horsepower is measured in decals and stickers. Aheader decal placed in the window can cost over 20 HP. It should be placed at the end of the header on the body for maximum gains.

 

Eh.. basically correct.

You got that backwards.

 

Not true. HP = TQ*RPM/5252. This formula will give the HP = TQ at 5252 rpm, ***uming torque measured in ft-lb.

And (as a matter of trivial knowledge) the 60 W light bulb mentioned in the original post uses between 1/12 and 1/13 hp.

 

Ooops, sorry, yes you are correct.

 

you're backwards.

torque is measured (cuz it's a real force applied to something)
Horsepower is a man made comparative tool that is calculated using force and time.

Why would torque HAVE to be multiplied. Gears DO multiply torque, but not always, cam transmits torque 90degrees through gears and puts the torque into the distributor shaft. 1:1 ratio, no torque multiplication, only frictional losses..

 

no he's correct that all dyno's SHOULD cross at 5252 because that's the formula used .... but not all dynos are accurate and not are all SET correctly.

how long was the light bulb doing the work to get a 12th or 13th hp?

 

The 5252 comes from converting linear work to rotational work.

33000 ft-lb/min / (2π radians/revolution) =5252ft-lb revs/min

(π=pi=3.1415)

 

all this math is confusing me..tell me again...what's a Henway?

 

I stand by my formula, as Gotgas acknowledged in the post immediately following mine.

If you note what I said, the light bulb is not a producer of power, it consumes power to work, approximately 1/12 hp.

 

As you probably noticed by now, you left the "R" out of pronybrake.

 

Oh gee fellas......... I thought it was "Ford's better idea" adverti*****t for some high powered muscle cars of the late '60's.

 

I'm not being a wise*** here:

In light of the above please explain- in terms suitable for a dunce- when they say something like: "It is not horsepower that gets the car moving, it is torque". What is this supposed to mean?

I know my flat 6 has relatively a lot of torque compared to not much horsepower, and other motors are just the opposite.

I guess I'm just conceptually confused.

 

Ahh yes I did, I was wrong. Sorry bout that. You would think after explaining it to students 8 times a year I wouldn't make that mistake......

 

Look at it this way a car at rest wants to stay at rest. It takes torque to make it move, kind of like loosening a lug nut with a 4 way wrench. The initial force needed to remove the lug nut is high but once you get moving it comes off quickly. Same goes with cars, once you get it moving the torque needed diminishes and horsepower takes over (quickly) and makes things happen.

 

Since they are tied together mathmatically, I don't see how you can seperate one from the other. I think they are basically talking low rpm power vs. higher rpm power.

As far as your flat 6 is concerned, if it makes exactly the same torque as a V-8 at a certain rpm, then it makes the same horsepower at that rpm. The calculator doesn't factor in how many cylinders or who's name is on the valve cover.
Larry T

 

How much horsepower is in a 60 watt light bulb?
Or, how much horsepower does it take to light a 60 watt bulb.
By the way, they are not bulbs, but lamps.

 

0.080461325 hp.

Simple huh?

 

Thanks never knew that interesting peice of history..........

 

746 watts = 1 horepower, I guess Watt didnt think to highly of himself!

 

Soooooooooooooooooo simple.



You need a pile of this to make horsepower & torque.

 

Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you move it after impact.