OK ... I have been trying to understand this better as someone recently
asked about the energy we used to soar ... I could explain how we
thermaled and how we converted altitude for distance, etc., but
couldn't convert that into some statement about horsepower or watts,
etc. So, looking at it another way ... if we have to climb, let's say
30,000' to get around a task ... how do you describe the total energy
involved ... both as a potential ... and also as a reflection of energy
expended if you lets say burn off 30K feet at an average speed of 60
mph in 2 hours.

KK
Running On Entropy (or something else ...)



CV wrote:
Ken Kochanski (KK) wrote:
I'm not an engineer, but I don't think it makes a diference.

I think HP is just a measure of work ... like weight lifted x
distance
in y seconds as defined.

Not quite:
- Weight lifted x distance is "work". The amount of work
is the same, regardless how long it takes to do the lifting.
- When you introduce the time element: work per time unit,
that is called "power".
HP is a unit for measuring power.
CV