> Before cars, people used vehicles called "horses"... the market was never going to accept 1HP
Funnily enough, horses actually produce much more than 1 horsepower. I think the story goes that James Watt estimated it would take a team of 10 horses resting and taking turns to pull a tractor/mill/whatever that keep 2 horses constantly busy, so that's how he calculated it.
But over shorter durations, horses can produce much more.
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> Before cars, people used vehicles called "horses"... the market was never going to accept 1HP
Funnily enough, horses actually produce much more than 1 horsepower. I think the story goes that James Watt estimated it would take a team of 10 horses resting and taking turns to pull a tractor/mill/whatever that keep 2 horses constantly busy, so that's how he calculated it.
But over shorter durations, horses can produce much more.
> But over shorter durations, horses can produce much more.
A human can generate more than a horsepower, too, for short times. I used to have how fast you'd have to go up a flight of stairs to have done so.
However, Watt was a salesman, and intentionally misrepresented "mine pony power" as "horse power".
Some more honest ones state steady state in electric, but they are the exception.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square