What is Horsepower?

[PaisleeFitz]

Horsepower is a unit of power, a physical quantity used to indicate the rate at which work is done. It generally refers to metric horsepower rather than imperial horsepower. By convention, 1 metric horsepower is defined as the work required to lift a 75-kilogram object 1 meter in 1 second. Additional Information: 1. Metric Horsepower: It takes a value very close to imperial horsepower, stipulating that 1 metric horsepower is the work done to complete 75 kilogram-force·meters in 1 second. That is: 1 metric horsepower = 75 kilogram-force·meters/second = 735 watts. 2. Imperial Horsepower: Countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States use imperial horsepower. 1 imperial horsepower equals 550 foot-pounds/second, which is equivalent to 745.7 watts.