this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 137 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.

[–] [email protected] 124 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 68 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 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

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

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

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

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

[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

HP from now on is called humanpower.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's called "Health Points" smh

[–] [email protected] 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Just another silly quirk of the imperial system.

Metric uses kilowatts.

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[–] [email protected] 92 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.

[–] [email protected] 24 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.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

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

[–] [email protected] 34 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I need a horse with something to prove to itself

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Watts are superior for this reason.

[–] wholeofthemoon 11 points 1 year ago

How many watts can a wattpower horse?

[–] wreckedcarzz 21 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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[–] [email protected] 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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 9 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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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So how much HP does Bojack Horseman have?

[–] [email protected] 17 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 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 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 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?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

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

nyaaaaah

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Every kilowatt has 1000 watts

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Guess we now have to change to duck power instead

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