Horsepower, Torque

WORK, Force and Distance

Understanding Horsepower
What is Horsepower

 Horsepower is a unit of power

for measuring the rate at which
a device can perform
mechanical work. Its
abbreviation is hp or bhp (for
brake horse power). One
horsepower was defined as the
amount of power needed to lift
33,000 pounds one foot in one
minute.
 Horsepower was defined by James
Watt (1736-1819), the inventor of the
steam engine, who determined after
careful measurements that a horse is
typically capable of a power rate of
550 foot-pounds per second.
 Today the SI (International System
of Units) unit of power is named for
Watt, and one horsepower is equal
to approximately 745.6999 watts.
Work = force x distance

 Work: the result of applying

force
 Force: is a measurement in
pounds
 Distance: is measured in feet
1. Work is defined as a force
acting through a distance.
Work is done only when a
force moves an object.
WORK = FORCE x DISTANCE

 No work is done by a force

unless the force moves through
a distance.
 force = 20 pounds
 Distance = 50 feet
 Work = 1000 ft lbs
Calculating Horsepower
Magic Formula for calculating
Horsepower
 Horsepower = Torque x RPM
Divided by 5,252
 5,252 is called a constant
 Horsepower: direction of motion
is in a straight line
 Torque: is related to rotation
 RPM: revolutions per minute
Horsepower explained
 OK. Remember Watt? He said that 33,000 foot pounds of
work per minute was equivalent to one horsepower. If we
divide the 6.2832 foot pounds of work we've done per
revolution of that weight into 33,000 foot pounds, we
come up with the fact that one foot pound of torque at
5252 rpm is equal to 33,000 foot pounds per minute of
work, and is the equivalent of one horsepower. If we only
move that weight at the rate of 2626 rpm, it's the
equivalent of 1/2 horsepower (16,500 foot pounds per
minute), and so on. Therefore, the following formula
applies for calculating horsepower from a torque
measurement:
Torque * RPM
 Horsepower = ------------
5,252

This is not a debatable item. It's the way it's done.

What is Torque

 Torque is one way to measure

work.
 Torque is defined as twisting
force
 The work that the engine
produces is measured as torque
at the flywheel
Do Torque and Horsepower
have anything common?
 Torque is the only thing that a driver feels
not horsepower.
 300 foot pounds of torque will accelerate
you just as hard at 2000 rpm as it would if
you were making that torque at 4000 rpm
in the same gear, yet, per the formula, the
horsepower would be *double* at 4000
rpm.
 Therefore, horsepower isn't particularly
meaningful from a driver's perspective.
 at 5,252 rpm, the horsepower and torque
always come out the same.
 Torque formula

Torque = Horsepower * 5252

-----------------
RPM
1. If horsepower = 350

2. And rpm = 6500

3. Torque = 282.8 ft lbs

Putting things in perspective
 If we bolted an LT1corvette engine to
a water wheel and assuming we
needed 12 rpm for an input to the
mill, we could run the LT1 at 5000
rpm (where it's making 315 foot
pounds of torque), and gear it down
to a 12 rpm output. Result? We'd
have over *131,000* foot pounds of
torque to play with. We could
probably twist the whole flour mill
around the input shaft, if we needed
to :-).
More Horsepower is not
always the answer but it helps
 Torque
 RPM
 Gearing
 Remember ,
there is no
replacement for
displacement