What Does watt Mean
Watt is a unit of measurement that is part of the International System . The term, synonymous with the English word watt , is used in power measurements and is equivalent to one joule per second .
The watt, which has the W as its symbol , pays homage to the British mathematician and engineer James Watt , who was born in 1736 and died in 1819 . Watt was one of the great people in charge of the development of the steam engine.
One of the areas of use of the watt as a unit of measurement is the field of electricity . The electrical power of a device can be expressed in watts and, if it has a lot of power, in one of its multiples (such as kilowatts or megawatts ).
The idea of electrical power refers to the rate of generation or use of energy when a job is carried out. If we have an 80-watt light bulb on for sixty minutes , we will have consumed 80 watt-hours . It should be noted that the watt-hour reflects power over time (the amount of energy generated to maintain a certain power for a certain time). We said lines above that a watt is equal to one joule per second: that device that consumes one watt of electrical power will be consuming one joule per second. If the bulb consumes 80 watts for one hour , therefore it will consume288,000 joules in that period.
80 watts in an hour = 80 joules per second x 3600 (in every hour there are sixty minutes; in every minute, sixty seconds. Therefore: 60 x 60 = 3600)
80 watt-hours = 288,000 joules
The power of machinery, motors and power plants is usually expressed in watts or kilowatts. These units, in turn, have equivalents in horsepower and horsepower , to name two possibilities.
In addition to all the above, we have to emphasize that, on numerous occasions and by people of very different kinds, confusion is created regarding the watt. Specifically, what we are referring to is that they are capable of confusing it with the volt (V), since both terms are used within the electronic and electrical field.
To avoid falling into this error, and starting from the explanation that we have given about the watt, it is necessary to know that the volt refers to the voltage or the potential voltage. That is, it is the difference in electric potential that exists between two specific points.
To understand and be clear: one, therefore, is a voltage term and the other is a power term.
In the same way, we cannot ignore that watt is a word that is used a lot within the field of sport and, more specifically, in the world of cycling. In this sector it is used to refer to the measure of power that comes to record the force that the rider exerts to be able to move his bicycle. In order to know the aforementioned force, it is usual for the two-wheeled vehicle to place electronic devices in the area of the transmission in particular.
These items can be installed on the pedals, on the cranks and even on the axles, which are identified because they have great reliability in terms of the results they offer.