{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "I find it ridiculous that we still use\u00a0\u201cHorsepower\u201d as a unit of measurement in this day and age. It means nothing to me. I have...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/174330996398/", "html": "

argumate:

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shieldfoss:

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argumate:

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soundlogic2236:

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deluxetrashqueen:

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I find it ridiculous that we still use\u00a0\u201cHorsepower\u201d as a unit of measurement in this day and age. It means nothing to me. I have no idea of how much power a horse has and I\u2019m frankly terrified to even contemplate it.\u00a0

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\u2026I\u2019m gonna guess a horse has about 1 horsepower.

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and you would be wrong! they have about fifteen, at peak output.

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Now you got me googling and my God I hate the real explanation but it makes sense.

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Horse power (hp) as a term was invented to sell steam engines. That means what you needed to tell e.g. a mill owner was how many horses he could replace with an engine

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So if you\u2019re running a steel mill off a 60 horse stable, you need a 60 hp engine. That\u2019s a lot less energy than if you had all 60 horses working together at once, but that\u2019s not how a mill does, some of the horses are sleeping, some of the horses are recovering from illness, only 4 of those horses are working right now.

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So a 60 hp engine delivers as much work as four horses, but does so continuously which 4 horses can\u2019t - you need 60 horses to continuously do the work of 4 horses.

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lazy slacking horses with their need to sleep and eat and goof off

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