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  Title: Measurement of Power

 Objectives:
At the end of experiment the students should be able to obtain the brake horsepower
transmitted by an engine by the use of Prony Brake.

 Theory and Analysis:

POWER
In physics, power (symbol: P) is defined as the amount of energy consumed per unit time. In
the MKS system, the unit of power is the joule per second (J/s), known as the watt (in honor
of James Watt, the eighteenth-century developer of the steam engine). For example, the
rate at which a light bulb converts electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts
—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per
unit time.

Energy transfer can be used to do work, so power is also the rate at which this work is
performed. The same amount of work is done when carrying a load up a flight of stairs
whether the person carrying it walks or runs, but more power is expended during the
running because the work is done in a shorter amount of time. The output power of an
electric motor is the product of the torque the motor generates and the angular velocity of
its output shaft. The power expended to move a vehicle is the product of the traction force
of the wheels and the velocity of the vehicle.

The integral of power over time defines the work done. Because this integral depends on
the trajectory of the point of application of the force and torque, this calculation of work is
said to be path dependent.

Units
The dimension of power is energy divided by time. The SI unit of power is the watt (W),
which is equal to one joule per second. Other units of power include ergs per second
(erg/s), horsepower (hp), metric horsepower (Pferdestärke (PS) or cheval 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 tons of refrigeration (12,000 Btu/h).

Average power
As a simple example, burning a kilogram of coal releases much more energy than does
detonating a kilogram of TNT, but because the TNT reaction releases energy much more
quickly, it delivers far more power than the coal.
If ΔW is the amount of work performed during a period of time of duration Δt, the average
power Pavg over that period is given by the formula
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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 time interval
Δt approaches zero.

In the case of constant power P, the amount of work performed during a period of duration
T is given by:

In the context of energy conversion, it is more customary to use the symbol E rather than W.

Mechanical power
Power in mechanical systems is the combination of forces and movement. In particular,
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 by the line integral:

Which, when the path is a straight line, can also be written as:

where x defines the path C and v is the velocity along this path. Applying the gradient
theorem to the first equation (and remembering that force is the negative of the gradient of
the potential energy) yields:

Where A and B are the beginning and end of the path along which the work was done.

Thus the power developed along a path is the time derivative of this:
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In one dimension and with a constant velocity, this can be simplified to:

In rotational systems, power is the product of the torque τ and angular velocity ω,

where ω measured in radians per second.

In fluid power systems such as hydraulic actuators, power is given by

where p is pressure in pascals, or N/m2 and Q is volumetric flow rate in m3/s in SI units.

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 velocity vB. If there are
no losses in the system, then

and the mechanical advantage of the system is given by

A similar relationship is obtained for rotating systems, where TA and ωA are the torque and
angular velocity of the input and TB and ωB are the torque and angular velocity of the
output. If there are no losses in the system, then

which yields the mechanical advantage

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These relations are important because they define the maximum performance of a device in
terms of velocity ratios determined by its physical dimensions. See for example gear ratios.

HORSEPOWER
Horsepower (hp) is the name of several units of measurement of power, the rate at which
work is done. The most common conversion factor, especially for electrical power, is 1 hp =
746 watts. The term was adopted in the late 18th century by Scottish engineer James Watt
to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses. It was later
expanded to include the output power of other types of piston engines, as well as turbines,
electric motors and other machinery.[1][2] The definition of the unit varied between
geographical regions. Most countries now use the SI unit wat for measurement of power.
With the implementation of the EU Directive 80/181/EEC on January 1, 2010, the use of
horsepower in the EU is only permitted as supplementary unit.

Units called "horsepower" have differing definitions:

 The mechanical horsepower, also known as imperial horsepower, of exactly 550 foot-
pounds per second is approximately equivalent to 745.7 watts.

 The metric horsepower of 75 kgf-m per second is approximately equivalent to 735.5

watts.

 The Pferdestärke PS (German translation of horsepower) is a name for a group of similar

power measurements used in Germany around the end of the 19th century, all of about
one metric horsepower in size.

 The boiler horsepower is used for rating steam boilers and is equivalent to 34.5 pounds
of water evaporated per hour at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 9,809.5 watts.

 One horsepower for rating electric motors is equal to 746 watts.

 Continental European electric motors used to have dual ratings, using a conversion rate
of 0.735 kW for 1 hp

 British Royal Automobile Club (RAC) horsepower is one of the tax horsepower systems
adopted around Europe which make an estimate based on several engine dimensions.

The development of the steam engine provided a reason to compare the output of horses
with that of the engines that could replace them. In 1702, Thomas Savery wrote in The
Miner's Friend:

"So that an engine which will raise as much water as two horses, working together at one
time in such a work, can do, and for which there must be constantly kept ten or twelve
horses for doing the same. Then I say, such an engine may be made large enough to do the
work required in employing eight, ten, fifteen, or twenty horses to be constantly maintained
and kept for doing such a work…"

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The idea was later used by James Watt to help market his improved steam engine. He had
previously agreed to take royalties of one third of the savings in coal from the older
Newcomen steam engines.[7] This royalty scheme did not work with customers who did not
have existing steam engines but used horses instead. Watt determined that a horse could
turn a mill wheel 144 times in an hour (or 2.4 times a minute). The wheel was 12 feet in
radius; therefore, the horse travelled 2.4 × 2π × 12 feet in one minute. Watt judged that the
horse could pull with a force of 180 pounds. So:

This was rounded to an even 33,000 ft·lbf/min.

Others recount that Watt determined that a pony could lift an average 220 lbf (0.98 kN)
100 ft (30 m) per minute over a four-hour working shift. Watt then judged a horse was 50%
more powerful than a pony and thus arrived at the 33,000 ft·lbf/min figure.[9] Engineering in
History recounts that John Smeaton initially estimated that a horse could produce 22,916
foot-pounds per minute. John Desaguliers had previously suggested 44,000 foot-pounds per
minute and Tredgold 27,500 foot-pounds per minute. "Watt found by experiment in 1782
that a 'brewery horse' could produce 32,400 foot-pounds per minute." James Watt and
Matthew Boulton standardized that figure at 33,000 the next year. [10]

Most observers familiar with horses and their capabilities estimate that Watt was either a
bit optimistic or intended to underpromise and overdeliver; few horses can maintain that
effort for long. Regardless, comparison with a horse proved to be an enduring marketing
tool.

In 1993, R. D. Stevenson and R. J. Wassersug published an article calculating the upper limit
to an animal's power output.[11] The peak power over a few seconds has been measured to
be as high as 14.9 hp. However, Stevenson and Wassersug observe that for sustained
activity, a work rate of about 1 hp per horse is consistent with agricultural advice from both
19th and 20th century sources.

When considering human-powered equipment, a healthy human can produce about 1.2 hp
briefly (see orders of magnitude) and sustain about 0.1 hp indefinitely; trained athletes can
manage up to about 2.5 hp briefly and 0.3 hp for a period of several hours.

Mechanical horsepower

Assuming the third CGPM (1901, CR 70) definition of standard gravity, gn=9.80665 m/s2, is
used to define the pound-force as well as the kilogram force, and the international
avoirdupois pound (1959), one mechanical horsepower is:

1 hp = 33,000 lb-ftf/min by definition

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= 550 ft·lbf/s since 1 min = 60 s

=550×0.3048×0.453592376 m·kgf/s since 1 ft = 0.3048 m and

= 76.0402259128 kgf·m/s 1 lb = 0.4536 kg

= 76.0402259128×9.80665 kg·m2/s3 g = 9.80665 m/s2

= 1 J/s = 1 N·m/s
= 745.699881448 W since 1W
= 1 (kg·m/s2)·(m/s)

Or given that 1 hp = 550 ft·lbf/s, 1 ft = 0.3048 m, 1 lbf ≈ 4.448 N, 1 J = 1 N·m, 1 W = 1 J/s: 1 hp

= 746 W

Metric horsepower (PS, cv, hk, pk, ks, ch)

The various units used to indicate this definition (PS, cv, hk, pk, ks and ch) all translate to
horse power in English, so it is common to see these values referred to as horsepower or hp
in the press releases or media coverage of the German, French, Italian, and Japanese
automobile companies. British manufacturers often intermix metric horsepower and
mechanical horsepower depending on the origin of the engine in question. Sometimes the
metric horsepower rating of an engine is conservative enough so that the same figure can
be used for both 80/1269/EEC with metric hp and SAE J1349 with imperial hp.

DIN 66036 defines one metric horsepower as the power to raise a mass of 75 kilograms
against the earth's gravitational force over a distance of one metre in one second; [13] this is
equivalent to 735.49875 W or 98.6% of an imperial mechanical horsepower.

In 1972, the PS was rendered obsolete by EEC directives, when it was replaced by the
kilowatt as the official power measuring unit. [14] It is still in use for commercial and
advertising purposes, in addition to the kW rating, as many customers are still not familiar
with the use of kilowatts for engines.

Other names for the metric horsepower are the Dutch paardenkracht (pk), the French
chevaux (ch), the Swedish hästkraf (hk), the Finnish hevosvoima (hv), the Norwegian and
Danish hestekraf (hk), the Hungarian lóerő (LE), the Czech koňská síla and Slovak konská sila
(k or ks), the Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian konjska snaga (KS),the Bulgarian "Конска сила", the
Macedonian Коњска сила (KC), the Polish koń mechaniczny and Slovenian konjska moč (KM)
and the Romanian cal-putere (CP) which all equal the German Pferdestärke (PS).

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CV

In addition, the capital form CV is used in Italy and France as a unit for tax horsepower, short
for, respectively, cavalli vapore and chevaux vapeur (steam horses). CV is a non-linear rating

of a motor vehicle for tax purposes. The CV rating, or fiscal power, is , where P
is the maximum power in kilowatts and U is the amount of CO 2 emitted in grams per
kilometre. The term for CO2 measurements has only been included in the definition since
1998, so older ratings in CV are not directly comparable. The fiscal power has found its way
into naming of automobile models, such as the popular Citroën deux-chevaux. The cheval-
vapeur (ch) unit should not be confused with the French cheval fiscal (CV).

In the 19th century, the French had their own unit, which they used instead of the CV or
horsepower. It was called the poncelet and was abbreviated p.

Electrical horsepower

The horsepower used for electrical machines is defined as exactly 746 W. The nameplates on
electrical motors show their power output, not their power input. Outside the United States
watts are generally used for electrical power applications.

Drawbar horsepower

Drawbar horsepower (dbhp) is the power a railway locomotive has available to haul a train
or an agricultural tractor to pull an implement. This is a measured figure rather than a
calculated one. A special railway car called a dynamometer car coupled behind the
locomotive keeps a continuous record of the drawbar pull exerted, and the speed. From
these, the power generated can be calculated. To determine the maximum power available,
a controllable load is required; it is normally a second locomotive with its brakes applied, in
addition to a static load.

If the drawbar force ( ) is measured in pounds-force (lbf) and speed ( ) is measured in

miles per hour (mph), then the drawbar power ( ) in horsepower (hp) is:

Example: How much power is needed to pull a drawbar load of 2,025 pounds-force at 5
miles per hour?

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The constant 375 is because 1 hp = 375 lbf·mph. If other units are used, the constant is
different. When using a coherent system of units, such as SI (watts, newtons, and metres per
second), no constant is needed, and the formula becomes .

RAC horsepower (taxable horsepower)

This measure was instituted by the Royal Automobile Club in Britain and was used to denote
the power of early 20th-century British cars. Many cars took their names from this figure
(hence the Austin Seven and Riley Nine), while others had names such as "40/50 hp", which
indicated the RAC figure followed by the true measured power.

Taxable horsepower does not reflect developed horsepower; rather, it is a calculated figure
based on the engine's bore size, number of cylinders, and a (now archaic) presumption of
engine efficiency. As new engines were designed with ever-increasing efficiency, it was no
longer a useful measure, but was kept in use by UK regulations which used the rating for tax
purposes.

where

D is the diameter (or bore) of the cylinder in inches

n is the number of cylinders [16]

This is equal to the displacement in cubic inches divided by 10π then divided again by the
stroke in inches.

Since taxable horsepower was computed based on bore and number of cylinders, not based
on actual displacement, it gave rise to engines with 'undersquare' dimensions (bore smaller
than stroke) this tended to impose an artificially low limit on rotational speed ( rpm),
hampering the potential power output and efficiency of the engine.

The situation persisted for several generations of four- and six-cylinder British engines: for
example, Jaguar's 3.4-litre XK engine of the 1950s had six cylinders with a bore of 83 mm
(3.27 in) and a stroke of 106 mm (4.17 in),[17] where most American automakers had long
since moved to oversquare (large bore, short stroke) V-8s (see, for example, the early
Chrysler Hemi).

MEASUREMENT

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The power of an engine may be measured or estimated at several points in the transmission
of the power from its generation to its application. A number of names are used for the
power developed at various stages in this process, but none is a clear indicator of either the
measurement system or definition used.

In the case of an engine dynamometer, power is measured at the engine's flywheel. With a
chassis dynamometer or rolling road, power output is measured at the driving wheels. This
accounts for the significant power loss through the drive train.

Engine designers use expressions other than horsepower to denote objective targets or
performance, such as brake mean effective pressure (BMEP). This is a coefficient of
theoretical brake horsepower and cylinder pressures during combustion.

Calculating Power
For a given torque and angular speed, the power may be calculated: the relationship when
using a coherent system of units (such as SI) is simply , where is power, is
torque, and is angular speed. But when using other units or when reckoning the speed in
full rotations rather than radians, a constant has to be added to the equation. When torque
is in pound-foot units, rotational speed is in rpm and power is in horsepower:

The constant 5252 is the rounded value of (33,000 ft·lbf/min)/(2π rad/rev).

When torque is in inch pounds:

The constant 63,025 is the rounded value of (33,000 ft·lbf/min) × (12 in/ft)/(2π rad/rev).

 Set Up:

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MEASUREMENT OF ROTATIVE SPEED OF THE WHEEL

MEASUREMENT OF GROSS WEIGHT AND CONTINOUS APPLICATION OF WATER TO PRONY BREAK

 Apparatus/Equipment:
1. Steam Engine
2. Prony Brake
3. Digital Tachometer
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4. Steel Tape
5. Platform Balance

 Procedure:
1 Attach the prony break to the rotating wheel of the steam engine and place the prony
brake arm on top of the platform scale with the aid of a stool.
2 Measure the tare weight and the length of the prony brake arm.
3 Start supplying steam to the engine, and it should start turning. Water should be
continuously applied to the prony brake.
4 Simultaneously measure the speed of the wheel using the tachometer and the torque
produced by the engine.
5 Perform several trials with varying steam flow into the engine.
6 Tabulate the data.
7 Compute for the engine power using the formula P = 2πNT, where P = brake power, N =
rotative speed of the wheel, and T = torque = Fl, where F = force and l = arm length.

Data & Results

Tare Weight = 4 kg
Arm length= 30.5 cm

Gross Weight Net Weight Speed, N Power, P

Trial
(kg) (N) (RPM) (hp)

1 5.20 1.962 289.68 0.02433

2 6.00 9.810 284.79 0.11961

3 7.00 19.62 251.35 0.21114

4 9.00 39.24 221.46 0.37206

5 10.25 51.50 201.03 0.44328

6 12.50 73.58 153.81 0.48452

Sample Computations

Trial 1:

Net Weight = (Gross Weight – Tare Weight) x (9.81 N / 1 kg)

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= (5.2 kg – 5 kg) (9.81 N / 1 kg) = 1.962 N

Torque = Force x lever arm
= 1.962 N x 0.305 m
= 0.59841 N-m
Power = 2πNT
= 2π(289.68 rev/min)(1 min/60 seconds)(0.59841 N-m)
= 18.1523 N-m/s
= 18.1523 J/s
= 18.1523 Watts
= 0.02433 hp

Trial 2:
Net Weight = (Gross Weight – Tare Weight) x (9.81 N / 1 kg)
= (6.0 kg – 5 kg) (9.81 N / 1 kg) = 9.81N
Torque = Force x lever arm
= 9.81N x 0.305 m
= 2.9921 N-m
Power = 2πNT
= 2π(289.68 rev/min)(1 min/60 seconds)(2.9921 N-m)
= 89.232 N-m/s
= 89.232 J/s
= 89.232 Watts
= 0.1196 hp

 Conclusion

In this experiment, we are able to measure the brake horse power of the steam engine
using the Prony brake dynamometer. The tabulated data obtained from the experiment
shows that when the gross weight is larger, the net weight and the power will also be larger
but slower have slower rotative speed.

 Research Questions:

Enumerate and explain the methods used to measure power.

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1. Nominal horsepower

Nominal horsepower (nhp) is an early 19th-century rule of thumb used to estimate the
power of steam engines.

nhp = 7 x area of piston x equivalent piston speed/33,000

For paddle ships the piston speed was estimated as 129.7 x (stroke) 1/3.35

For the nominal horsepower to equal the actual power it would be necessary for the mean
steam pressure in the cylinder during the stroke to be 48 kPa (7 psi) and for the piston speed
to be of the order of 54–75 m/min.

2. Indicated horsepower
Indicated horsepower (ihp) is the theoretical power of a reciprocating engine if it is
completely frictionless in converting the expanding gas energy (piston pressure ×
displacement) in the cylinders. It is calculated from the pressures developed in the cylinders,
measured by a device called an engine indicator – hence indicated horsepower. As the
piston advances throughout its stroke, the pressure against the piston generally decreases,
and the indicator device usually generates a graph of pressure vs stroke within the working
cylinder. From this graph the amount of work performed during the piston stroke may be
calculated. It was the figure normally used for steam engines in the 19th century but is
misleading because the actual power output may only be 70% to 90% of the indicated
horsepower.

3. Brake horsepower
Brake horsepower (bhp) is the measure of an engine's horsepower before the loss in power
caused by the gearbox, alternator, differential, water pump, and other auxiliary components
such as power steering pump, muffled exhaust system, etc. Brake refers to a device which
was used to load an engine and hold it at a desired rotational speed. During testing, the
output torque and rotational speed were measured to determine the brake horsepower.
Horsepower was originally measured and calculated by use of the "indicator" (a James Watt
invention of the late 18th century), and later by means of a De Prony brake connected to the
engine's output shaft.
More recently, an engine dynamometer is used instead of a De Prony brake. Although the
output delivered to the driving wheels is less than that obtainable at the engine's
crankshaft, a chassis dynamometer gives an indication of an engine's "real world"
horsepower after losses in the drive train and gearbox. This gives a reasonably accurate
indication of how a wheeled vehicle engine will perform once on the road.
4. Shaft horsepower
Shaft horsepower (shp) is the power delivered to the propeller shafts of a steamship (or one
powered by diesel engines or nuclear power), or an aircraft powered by a piston engine or a
gas turbine engine, and the rotors of a helicopter. This shaft horsepower can be measured

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with instruments, or estimated from the indicated horsepower and a standard figure for the
losses in the transmission (typical figures are around 10%).
This measure is not commonly used in the automobile industry, because in that context
drive train losses can become significant.

 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
"Horsepower", Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
"International System of Units" (SI), Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

CARIÑO, ALEX ALLAN A.