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What is Horsepower? What does it have to do with horses?


The term "horsepower" was created by James Watt, an engineer who lived from 1736-1819, famous for his work on improving the performance of steam engines.

Watt was working with ponies lifting coal out of a coal mine, and he decided to come up with a measurement that would describe the amount of power that one animal could pull.
He found that an average mine pony could do 22,000 foot-pounds of work a minute. He then increased it by 50% and called that one horsepower: 33,000 foot-pounds of work in one minute.

Basically, a horsepower means this: According to Watt a horse can do 33,000 foot-pounds of work every minute. A horse pulling coal out of a mine, exerting 1 horsepower, will raise 330 pounds of coal 100 feet in one minute, or 33 pounds of coal 1,000 feet in one minute.

Fun fact: A horse producing 1 horsepower would burn 641 calories in an hour if it were 100% efficient.

Today we see the horsepower measurement used in vehicles, lawn mowers, chainsaws, and other motors. It's another example of how the horse has influenced our way of life.


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