Steam Engine, Museo de la minería y la industria, Asturias, Spain

1 Who defined the horsepower as the unit of power?

Exercise

When we check a brochure of a car, one of the most relevant characteristics, which influences the decision to acquire the vehicle, is the power of the engine. We see, as in the examples shown, that the power of the engine is expressed in horsepower, with the symbol hp.


Chevrolet engine technical sheet. Power of 155 horsepower.https://www.chevrolet.com/

 


Questions for  open discussion

  • What does "horsepower" mean in relation to engine power? 
  • Why is the mixture of two words, "horse" and "power," used for this term?
  • What does a horse have to do with the power of a car?
  • For what purpose was this concept of engine power named as "horsepower"?
  • This denomination of "horsepower", in what year was it made?
  • To whom is this definition attributed, to a person or to an institution?
  • How the "horsepower" of our car is related to the payment of taxes?
  • Which is the unit of power in the International System of Units?
  • Which is the difference between the mechanical horsepower (or imperial horsepower), and the metric horsepower?