Re: Horsepower (was Re: Metric Time (was Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique))

Jacques Guy (jbm@newsserver.trl.oz.au)
17 Oct 1995 06:55:05 +1000

taibi@ix.netcom.com (Solomon Taibi ) writes:

>Must be you never met a horse.
>1 Horsepower == 33,000 foot/pound/minutes
>Sounds about right to me.

>Admittedly I prefer metric, but let's not be snide about it.

I was taught that 1 cheval-vapeur = 75kgm/s which is:

75/0.454/0.3048*60= 32,519.3382 ft*lb/min

Much later, I read (I think it was in New Scientist), that
a horse has a power closer to 12hp, early automotive
manufacturers having deliberately grossly underrated a
horse's strength to sell their wares.