this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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[–] DarkGamer@kbin.social 143 points 1 year ago (10 children)

It's true!

Although it may seem safe to assume that one horsepower is the output a horse is capable of creating at any one time, that is incorrect. In fact, the maximum output of a horse can be up to 15 horsepower,[2] and the maximum output of a human is a bit more than a single horsepower. For extreme athletes, this output can be even higher with Tour de France riders outputting around 1.2 horsepower for around 15 seconds, and just under 0.9 horsepower for a minute.[3]
https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Horsepower

I must now once again question the nature of reality.

[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 127 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the maximum output of a horse can be up to 15 horsepower,

That's the problem. The unit was not developed on the maximum power a horse could put out. It was intended to be what a typical horse could continuously sustain throughout the work day.

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[–] Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works 69 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Wasn't one unit of horsepower meant to represent sustained power, not peak power of a horse?

[–] gramathy@lemmy.ml 35 points 1 year ago

Average, not necessarily sustained. Horse gotta rest at some point regardless of how much power it’s putting out

Iirc it’s an average over 1 day (24hrs) without regard to rest. So even sustained a horse is putting out more than 1hp at any given point in time

[–] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 year ago

That would be a logical explanation... Get out!

[–] atocci@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago

It's supposed to be the amount of work a strong horse can perform over one day on average.

[–] Rubanski@lemm.ee 53 points 1 year ago (1 children)

HP from now on is called humanpower.

[–] original_ish_name@lemm.ee 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's called "Health Points" smh

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

It's just playing with fractions and linear extrapolation. Horsepower has a time denominator. If you measure how fast I can run (not fast) in .1 second intervals, then take the highest number and extrapolate that to miles per hour it will seem impressive.

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago

Just another silly quirk of the imperial system.

Metric uses kilowatts.

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[–] burgersc12@sh.itjust.works 99 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website 49 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Opposite problem. B Horse has 0.75 horsepower.

[–] Seventhlevin@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website 32 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] EffortlessEffluvium@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Artax…it’s too soon…

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[–] Seventhlevin@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago
[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whereas Q horse has the power of The Deep State

[–] Sonotsugipaa@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 year ago

Z horse keeps flickering in and out when next to flat walls for some goddamn reason...

[–] Laticauda@lemmy.ca 95 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Horsepower is averaged based on an extended time period, how much power a horse can put out on average while constantly working. They can't do 15 hp on a constant basis, they can only do it for a relatively brief period of time, so their average is 1 hp. A 15 hp engine can run at 15 hp for a much longer period of time, which a horse can't do. If the engine was hypothetically capable of working consistently without ever breaking down, it would be able to run at 15 hp indefinitely. But even with the machine's lifespan in mind, it can still run for years at the same output, which is impossible for a horse.

[–] craftyindividual@lemm.ee 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it can still run for years at the same output, which is impossible for a horse.

Depends which horse.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 year ago

Well of course we have a unit, cu. hp, (coked up horsepower) for that.

[–] saltnotsugar@lemm.ee 39 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think it’s between 1 and 15, depending on factors like how tired, or if his horse girlfriend broke up with him for that dumb old stud.

[–] oldGregg@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

I need a horse with something to prove to itself

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[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Watts are superior for this reason.

[–] WhyIDie@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 year ago

Had to look it up, apparently 1 watt is equal to the power of 0.0013410221 horses. From there, you can calculate how many horses the outlet in a given country is worth.

[–] wholeofthemoon@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

How many watts can a wattpower horse?

[–] buckykat@hexbear.net 27 points 1 year ago (3 children)

1 horsepower is supposed to be the rate a shitty old timey horse can work over the course of a whole day. Also it was created as a way to market steam engines to replace horses as a source of mechanical power so there was an incentive to lowball the horse.

[–] boogetyboo@aussie.zone 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You take that old timey horse's name out of your goddamn mouth

[–] buckykat@hexbear.net 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

literally everything was shittier in olden times

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[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's a difference between maximum power and maximum continuous power. It's like your car engine; it might be rated for hundreds of horsepower, but most of the time cruising down the highway it might be making 20 or so just to keep you loafing along.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I take offense that my traveling around can be accurately described as loafing

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[–] wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Over a short period of time, they calculate, a horse can exert up to 14.9 horsepower.

source

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[–] Spliffman1@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (5 children)

But manpower is not a measurement 🙄

[–] shasta@lemm.ee 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] Zoldyck 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So how much HP does Bojack Horseman have?

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If a human has 1 (according to another comment) and a horse has 15, then I'm going to say that a "horseman" has 8.

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

That's a tough one. They're also half and half, but they're more horse where it counts for HP than Bojack.

Hmm... let's say 13. Because a human torso is probably heavier than a horse head. Final answer.

[–] dojan@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Would a centaur have double sets of organs? Like two hearts, four lungs, etc.?

My question I guess is more, is the human part self-sufficient? Could you amputate the horse and end up with just the upper body of a human, and would it be functional?

[–] redcalcium@lemmy.institute 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

A horse only has 4 limbs, while a centaur has 6 limbs, so centaur must be stronger, right?

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[–] MonsiuerPatEBrown@reddthat.com 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Li'l Sebastian ran at about ~~5 HP~~ 15000HP! I stand corrected

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[–] casmael@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago

Interestingly, I read the images as skeletor, if you know what I mean

nyaaaaah

[–] ciko22i3@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 year ago

Every kilowatt has 1000 watts

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Guess we now have to change to duck power instead

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