	Site Map \| FAQ in Daily Almanac for Nov 12, 2009 Search White Pages
Skip Navigation Home American Indian Heritage Month Atlas Encyclopedia Dictionary Thesaurus Features Quizzes Timelines Countries Slideshows

Fact Monster Kid's reference,
games, quizzes

Editor's Favorites

horsepower

horsepower, unit of power in the English system of units. It is equal to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute or 550 foot-pounds per second or approximately 746 watts. The term horsepower originated with James Watt, who determined by experiment that a horse could do 33,000 foot-pounds of work a minute in drawing coal from a coal pit.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

More on horsepower from Infoplease:

shaft horsepower: meaning and definitions - shaft horsepower: Definition and Pronunciation
indicated horsepower: meaning and definitions - indicated horsepower: Definition and Pronunciation
brake horsepower: meaning and definitions - brake horsepower: Definition and Pronunciation
propeller horsepower: meaning and definitions - propeller horsepower: Definition and Pronunciation
horsepower-hour: meaning and definitions - horsepower-hour: Definition and Pronunciation

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Physics

Premium Partner Content

HighBeam Research

Related content from HighBeam Research on: horsepower

A horsepower of another color.(determining the horsepower of an engine)(Brief Article) (Countryside & Small Stock Journal)

Horsepower frenzy--the good old days are now. (Automotive Consumer).(Chevrolet Corvette)(Brief Article)(Evaluation) (Consumers' Research Magazine)

Thinking about horsepower and torque (Light & Medium Truck)

Forget 6,000 horsepower; it's 8,000! (National Dragster)

What's the right horsepower? (Electrical Apparatus)

Horse power: horsepower ratings for pool and spa pumps are confusing and controversial. But that could soon change.(Quarterly Market Report) (Pool & Spa News)

Industry Trends Toward Higher Horsepower Chipping.(Brief Article) (Arbor Age)

Horsepower headaches: prescription for relief: a unified plan for measuring engine output. (Yachting)

Invasion of the fractional-horsepower motors. (Technology Focus: Power Transmission and Motion Control) (Mechanical Engineering-CIME)

Why do they call it horsepower? (Shop Talk). (Outdoor Power Equipment)

Additional search results provided by HighBeam Research, LLC. © Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

Infoplease Tools