Power (physics)

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For other types of power, see Power (disambiguation).
Common symbols P
SI unit watt
Classical mechanics
\vec{F} = m\vec{a}
Second law of motion
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In physics, power is the rate of doing work. It is equivalent to an amount of en
ergy consumed per unit time. In the MKS system, the unit of power is the joule p
er second (J/s), known as the watt in honor of James Watt, the eighteenth-centur
y developer of the steam engine.
The integral of power over time defines the work performed. Because this integra
l depends on the trajectory of the point of application of the force and torque,
this calculation of work is said to be path dependent.
The same amount of work is done when carrying a load up a flight of stairs wheth
er the person carrying it walks or runs, but more power is needed for running be
cause the work is done in a shorter amount of time. The output power of an elect
ric motor is the product of the torque that the motor generates and the angular
velocity of its output shaft. The power involved in moving a vehicle is the prod
uct of the traction force of the wheels and the velocity of the vehicle. The rat
e at which a light bulb converts electrical energy into light and heat is measur
ed in wattsthe higher the wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more elect
rical energy is used per unit time.[1][2]
Contents
1 Units
2 Average power
3 Mechanical power
3.1 Mechanical advantage
4 Electrical power
5 Peak power and duty cycle
6 See also
7 References
Units
Ansel Adams photograph of electrical wires of the Boulder Dam Power Units
Ansel Adams photograph of electrical wires of the Boulder Dam Power Units, 194119
42
The dimension of power is energy divided by time. The SI unit of power is the wa
tt (W), which is equal to one joule per second. Other units of power include erg
s per second (erg/s), horsepower (hp), metric horsepower (Pferdestrke (PS) or che
val vapeur, CV), and foot-pounds per minute. One horsepower is equivalent to 33,
000 foot-pounds per minute, or the power required to lift 550 pounds by one foot
in one second, and is equivalent to about 746 watts. Other units include dBm, a
relative logarithmic measure with 1 milliwatt as reference; (food) calories per
hour (often referred to as kilocalories per hour); Btu per hour (Btu/h); and to
ns of refrigeration (12,000 Btu/h).
Average power
As a simple example, burning a kilogram of coal releases much more energy than d
oes detonating a kilogram of TNT,[3] but because the TNT reaction releases energ
y much more quickly, it delivers far more power than the coal. If ?W is the amou
nt of work performed during a period of time of duration ?t, the average power P
avg over that period is given by the formula
P_\mathrm{avg} = \frac{\Delta W}{\Delta t}\,.
It is the average amount of work done or energy converted per unit of time. The
average power is often simply called "power" when the context makes it clear.
The instantaneous power is then the limiting value of the average power as the t
ime interval ?t approaches zero.
P = \lim _{\Delta t\rightarrow 0} P_\mathrm{avg} = \lim _{\Delta t\rightarro
w 0} \frac{\Delta W}{\Delta t} = \frac{\mathrm{d}W}{\mathrm{d}t}\,.
In the case of constant power P, the amount of work performed during a period of
duration T is given by:
W = PT\,.
In the context of energy conversion, it is more customary to use the symbol E ra
ther than W.
Mechanical power
Power in mechanical systems is the combination of forces and movement. In partic
ular, power is the product of a force on an object and the object's velocity, or
the product of a torque on a shaft and the shaft's angular velocity.
Mechanical power is also described as the time derivative of work. In mechanics,
the work done by a force F on an object that travels along a curve C is given b
y the line integral:
W_C = \int_{C}\bold{F}\cdot \bold{v}\,\mathrm{d}t =\int_{C} \bold{F} \cdot \
mathrm{d}\bold{x},
where x defines the path C and v is the velocity along this path.
If the force F is derivable from a potential, then applying the gradient theorem
(and remembering that force is the negative of the gradient of the potential en
ergy) yields:
W_C = U(B)-U(A),
where A and B are the beginning and end of the path along which the work was don
e.
The power at any point along the curve C is the time derivative
P(t) = \frac{\mathrm{d}W}{\mathrm{d}t}=\bold{F}\cdot \bold{v}=-\frac{\mathrm
{d}U}{\mathrm{d}t}.
In one dimension, this can be simplified to:
P(t) = F\cdot v.
In rotational systems, power is the product of the torque t and angular velocity
?,
P(t) = \boldsymbol{\tau} \cdot \boldsymbol{\omega}, \,
where ? measured in radians per second. The \cdot represents scalar product.
In fluid power systems such as hydraulic actuators, power is given by
P(t) = pQ, \!
where p is pressure in pascals, or N/m2 and Q is volumetric flow rate in m3/s in
SI units.
Mechanical advantage
If a mechanical system has no losses then the input power must equal the output
power. This provides a simple formula for the mechanical advantage of the system
.
Let the input power to a device be a force FA acting on a point that moves with
velocity vA and the output power be a force FB acts on a point that moves with v
elocity vB. If there are no losses in the system, then
P = F_B v_B = F_A v_A, \!
and the mechanical advantage of the system (output force per input force) is giv
en by
\mathrm{MA} = \frac{F_B}{F_A} = \frac{v_A}{v_B}.
The similar relationship is obtained for rotating systems, where TA and ?A are t
he torque and angular velocity of the input and TB and ?B are the torque and ang
ular velocity of the output. If there are no losses in the system, then
P = T_A \omega_A = T_B \omega_B, \!
which yields the mechanical advantage
\mathrm{MA} = \frac{T_B}{T_A} = \frac{\omega_A}{\omega_B}.
These relations are important because they define the maximum performance of a d
evice in terms of velocity ratios determined by its physical dimensions. See for
example gear ratios.
Electrical power
Main article: Electric power
The instantaneous electrical power P delivered to a component is given by
P(t) = I(t) \cdot V(t) \,
where
P(t) is the instantaneous power, measured in watts (joules per second)
V(t) is the potential difference (or voltage drop) across the component, mea
sured in volts
I(t) is the current through it, measured in amperes
If the component is a resistor with time-invariant voltage to current ratio, the
n:
P=I \cdot V = I^2 \cdot R = \frac{V^2}{R} \,
where
R = \frac{V}{I} \,
is the resistance, measured in ohms.
Peak power and duty cycle
In a train of identical pulses, the instantaneous power is a periodic function o
f time. The ratio of the pulse duration to the period is equal to the ratio of t
he average power to the peak power. It is also called the duty cycle (see text f
or definitions).
In the case of a periodic signal s(t) of period T, like a train of identical pul
ses, the instantaneous power p(t) = |s(t)|^2 is also a periodic function of peri
od T. The peak power is simply defined by:
P_0 = \max [p(t)] .
The peak power is not always readily measurable, however, and the measurement of
the average power P_\mathrm{avg} is more commonly performed by an instrument. I
f one defines the energy per pulse as:
\epsilon_\mathrm{pulse} = \int_{0}^{T}p(t) \mathrm{d}t \,
then the average power is:
P_\mathrm{avg} = \frac{1}{T} \int_{0}^{T}p(t) \mathrm{d}t = \frac{\epsilon_\
mathrm{pulse}}{T} \, .
One may define the pulse length \tau such that P_0\tau = \epsilon_\mathrm{pulse}
so that the ratios
\frac{P_\mathrm{avg}}{P_0} = \frac{\tau}{T} \,
are equal. These ratios are called the duty cycle of the pulse train.
See also
Simple machines
Mechanical advantage
Motive power
Orders of magnitude (power)
Pulsed power
Intensity in the radiative sense, power per area
Power gain for linear, two-port networks.
References
Halliday and Resnick (1974). "6. Power". Fundamentals of Physics.
Chapter 13, 3, pp 13-2,3 The Feynman Lectures on Physics Volume I, 1963
Burning coal produces around 15-30 megajoules per kilogram, while detonating
TNT produces about 4.7 megajoules per kilogram. For the coal value, see Fisher,
Juliya (2003). "Energy Density of Coal". The Physics Factbook. Retrieved 30 May
2011. For the TNT value, see the article TNT equivalent. The coal value does no
t include the weight of oxygen used during combustion, while the TNT number if T
NT only.