What is power?

In physics power is defined as rate with which Power can be calculate in watts or in horse power if you are dealing with electrical power. power have difference equation use in calculation of it , depend on the parameters available just like equations of motion  and what you are calculating its power.  There are difference types of power, like electrical power, generator power, motor engine power and so on.

$Power = \frac {work done or energy spent}{time taken}$

That is  $\frac { w }{ t } =f\times \frac { s }{ t } =f\times v$

Therefore power =$f\times v$ where v = velocity, and f = force.

The SI unit of power is called the watt (w) which is the rate of transfer of energy of one Joule per second. That is      1W = 1JS-1 , the large units are the Kilowatt (kw) and megawatt (mw)

1kw = 103w, 1mw = 106w

Sometimes, we use horse power (h.p)  unit, to measure power.

Note that   1h.p  =  746watt = 0.75kw

The of energy that is sometime used for electrical energy is called the kilowatt-hour (kwh). This is the energy used by an appliance with a power of one kilowatt in one hour.

1kwh  =   1000w  x 3600S = 3.6 x 106J = 3-6MJ

Examples:

• Calculate the power of pump which lifts 500kg of water through a vertical height of 4 meters in 5 seconds.  (assuming g =10MS-2)
• A car travelling at a constant speed of 20ms-1 overcomes a resistance of 300n. What is the horse power of the engine? (take  p =3/4kw )

• , solution to number one question,

Recall that power = $p=\frac { work\quad done }{ time\quad taken }$

that is force x distance/time

$p=f\times \frac { s }{ t }$

but F=500N, S = 4, and time = 5s

So work done = 500 x 4 = 2000J, therefore

$p=\frac { 2000 }{ 5 } =400w$

• To answer number 2 question, let use

Engine power =

$\frac { work\quad done }{ time\quad taken } =f\times v$

Where f = force and v = velocity, therefore

Engine power = 300 x 20 = 6000watts = 6kw

Taking

= 1h.p

6kw    =  8h.p.

6 thoughts on “what is power defined as in physics”

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.