It was determined that one horsepower is equivalent to ____ watts.

Prepare for the Southeast Lineman Training Center Exam with quizzes and detailed explanations. Enhance your skills and knowledge through interactive tests. Get exam-ready!

Multiple Choice

It was determined that one horsepower is equivalent to ____ watts.

Power is the rate at which work is done. One mechanical horsepower is defined as 550 foot-pounds of work per second. To convert to watts, note that 1 watt equals 1 joule per second and 1 foot-pound is about 1.3558 joules. So 550 ft-lbf per second equals 550 × 1.3558 J/s ≈ 745.7 J/s, i.e., about 745.7 watts. Rounding gives 746 watts. Therefore, one horsepower is equivalent to 746 watts. The other figures don’t match the standard mechanical definition and are noticeably off from this commonly used value. (Metric horsepower is a different definition and is about 735.5 watts.)

Power is the rate at which work is done. One mechanical horsepower is defined as 550 foot-pounds of work per second. To convert to watts, note that 1 watt equals 1 joule per second and 1 foot-pound is about 1.3558 joules. So 550 ft-lbf per second equals 550 × 1.3558 J/s ≈ 745.7 J/s, i.e., about 745.7 watts. Rounding gives 746 watts. Therefore, one horsepower is equivalent to 746 watts. The other figures don’t match the standard mechanical definition and are noticeably off from this commonly used value. (Metric horsepower is a different definition and is about 735.5 watts.)

More practice questions