The truth is that most of us think about automobiles when we hear the mention of horsepower but did you know that there’s really more to it than that? Chances are you didn’t and if you’ve ever wondered about the different classifications of horsepower, then this has been written just for you.

What is horsepower?

Horsepower, it’s the name of many non-metric units of power scientifically and horsepower is often displayed as SI or in watts. One horsepower is defined as 745.69987158227022W (watts). Round it off and you’ve got 746 W.

One common memory aid used to remember the exact calculation of 1 horsepower is a rhyme so to speak starring none other than Christopher Columbus!

“In fourteen hundred and ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Divide that son-of-a-gun by two”

…And there you have it, the sum of horsepower!

Why is horsepower measured in watts?

Well, there’s a reason for everything and there’s a reason for watts too. James Watt invented horsepower, you may recall Mr. Watt from history because he was famous for his contributions to the steam engine industry and that’s how he discovered horsepower, improving his steam engine.

James Watt discovered that a business deal wasn’t very profitable because while he wanted people to use steam engines, they were using horses. James Watt decided he would show people just how economical a steam engine was, basing his discoveries in language they could understand and thus was the birth of horsepower.

There are other types of horsepower!

Thanks to James Watt, horsepower is used as a measure for many things. Take a look at some of the different types of horsepower:

Electrical
Boiler
Indicated
Drawbar
RAC
Metric
SAE

What would the world be like without horsepower? That’s a question we need not ponder upon thanks to the achievements of James Watt but isn’t the world a great place with it!

By: Lisa Gonzalez