What Unit Does Horsepower Represent?

[MaxLynn]

Horsepower is a commonly used unit of power measurement in engineering technology, representing a physical quantity that indicates the rate of work. 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. Countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States use imperial horsepower, where 1 imperial horsepower equals 550 foot-pounds, equivalent to 735.7 watts. The British physicist James Watt, in order to measure the power of newly manufactured steam engines, defined horsepower as the work required to lift a 1000-pound weight 33 feet in 1 minute, which is the imperial horsepower, denoted by the letters HP.