hp??

souprat

New Member
Mar 30, 2005
649
0
0
38
fairfax VA
^^^yeah. hp is the force it takes to lift 550lbs one foot in one second. torque is just in ft/lbs. ever wonder why you never see a dynograph with a flat hp curve? cuz hp output is dependent on torque and engine speed.
 

7MGTEJoe

New Member
Mar 31, 2005
80
0
0
47
Salinas, CA
americanjebus said:
how come when i look up hp it comes out = to 550ft/lbs and not just 1ft/lb?

im confused.

Simple answer, because that's how the unit is defined.

Longer answer, horsepower is based on the sustainable work output of a horse and a horse can move lots more than 1 lb per second. Don't expect a measurement system created before Newton was born to have any reasonable scientific units. You'll find more strange units as well, wait until you get into thermodynamics (the BTU is a ridiculous unit). The "standard" system sucks. It's a conglomeration of every unit we've come up with for the last 2000 years with new units slapped on before they even understood what they were measuring.