Power Converter
Convert between various units of power, including watts, kilowatts, horsepower, BTU per hour, and megawatts.
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About Power Units
Power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed. The SI unit of power is the watt (W), which is equal to one joule of energy per second.
Common Power Units
- Watt (W): The SI unit of power, defined as one joule per second. Named after James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine.
- Kilowatt (kW): Equal to 1,000 watts, commonly used for measuring the power of engines, electric motors, and household appliances.
- Megawatt (MW): Equal to 1,000,000 watts or 1,000 kilowatts, often used to measure the output of power plants or large-scale industrial equipment.
- Horsepower (hp): Originally defined by James Watt as the power a horse can sustain while working. One mechanical horsepower equals approximately 746 watts.
- BTU per hour (BTU/h): British Thermal Unit per hour, commonly used in heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration industries, especially in the United States.
Power Conversion Applications
Understanding power conversions is essential in many practical applications:
- Electrical engineering for designing circuits and systems
- Automotive industry for comparing engine performance
- Home appliance energy consumption calculations
- HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system design
- Power generation and distribution planning
- Renewable energy system sizing (solar panels, wind turbines)
- Industrial machinery specifications and requirements
Power vs. Energy
It's important to understand the difference between power and energy:
- Power is the rate at which energy is transferred or work is done (measured in watts)
- Energy is the capacity to do work (measured in joules, kilowatt-hours, etc.)
- Energy = Power × Time
- For example, a 100-watt light bulb running for 10 hours consumes 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy