Power

Equations for power

Power, as a function of time, is the rate at which work is done, so can be expressed by this equation:

P = dW
dt
where P is power, W is work, and t is time. Because work is a force F applied over a distance r ,
W = F.r

for a constant force, power can be rewritten as:

P = dW = d_ (F.r) = F.dr
_ =F.v
dt dt dt

● Average Power
As a simple example, burning one 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 Δ W is the amount of work performed during a period of time of duration Δ t ,
the average power P avg over that period is given by the formula
P avg =∆W _ .
∆t
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 Δ t
approaches zero.

In the case of constant power P , the amount of work performed during a period of
duration T is given by:
W = Pt.
In the context of energy conversion, it is more customary to use the symbol E rather
than W.

Mechanical power
 One metric horsepower is needed to lift 75 kilograms by 1 meter in
1 second.
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 yields the mechanical advantage

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 .

Electrical power
where

is the resistance, measured in ohms.

Peak power and duty cycle

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 In a train of identical pulses, the instantaneous power
is a periodic function of time. The ratio of the pulse
duration to the period is equal to the ratio of the
average power to the peak power. It is also called the
duty cycle (see text for definitions).

In the case of a periodic signal of period , like a train of identical pulses, the instantaneous power

P(t) = |s(t)|2 is also a periodic function of period T.

The peak Power is simply defined by:
P° = max[p(t)]

The peak power is not always readily measurable, however, and the measurement of the
average power Pavg is more commonly performed by an instrument. If one defines the
energy per pulse as:
are equal. These ratios are called the duty cycle of the pulse train.

Radiant power
Power is related to intensity at a distance ; the power emitted by a source can be written as:
P(r) = I(4πr2)

Simple machine
 In thermodynamics , motive power is a natural agent, such as
water or steam, wind or electricity , used to impart motion to
machinery such as an engine . Motive power may also be a
locomotive or a motor, which provides motive power to a system. Motive power may be thought of as a
synonym for either " work", i.e. force times distance [J], or " power " [J/s].

History
In 1679, physicist Denis Papin conceived the idea of using steam to power a piston and cylinder engine, by
watching a steam release valve of a bone-digester rhythmically move up and down. In 1698, based on Papin’s
designs, mechanical designer Thomas Savery built the first engine. The first scientific treatise on the
energetics of engines was the 1824 book: Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire written by French physicist
Sadi Carnot .

As an example, the Newcomen engine of 1711 was able to replace a team of 500 horses that had "powered" a
wheel to pump water out of a mine, i.e. to "move" buckets of water vertically out of a mine. Hence, we have the
precursory model to the term motive power . Based on this model, in 1832, Carnot defined work as "weight
lifted through a height", being the very same definition used to this day.
1824 definition
Carnot states, in the footnotes to his famous 1824 publication, "We use here the expression motive power to
express the useful effect that a motor is capable of producing. This effect can always be likened to the
elevation of a weight to a certain height. It has, as we know, as a measure, the product of the weight multiplied
by the height to which it is raised."
In 1834, the French mining engineer Émile Clapeyron refers to Carnot’s motive power as
"mechanical action". As an example, during the expansion stroke of a piston engine he states
that: "the gas will have developed a quantity of mechanical action during its expansion given
by the integral of the product of the pressure times the differential of the volume." Clapeyron
then goes on to use graphical methods to show how this "mechanical action", i.e. work in
modern terms, could be calculated.

Orders of magnitude
(power)
This page lists examples of the power in watts produced by various sources of
energy. They are grouped by orders of magnitude .

Below 1 W
Factor ( Watts ) SI
prefix Value (Watts ) Item
10 −27 1.64 × 10 −27 phys: approximate power of
gravitational radiation emitted by a 1000 kg satellite in
geosynchronous orbit around the Earth.
10 −24 Yocto- (yW)
10 −21 Zepto- (zW)
10 −12 Pico- (pW) 1 × 10 −12
biomed: average power
consumption of a human cell (−90
dBm)
10 −11 1.84 × 10 −11 phys: power
lost in the form of synchrotron
radiation by a proton revolving in
the
Large Hadron Collider at 7000 GeV
10 −10 1.5 × 10 −10 biomed: power
entering a
human eye from a 100-watt lamp 1
km away
10 −9 Nano- (nW) 2–15 × 10 −9
tech: power consumption of 8-bit
PIC microcontroller chips when in
"sleep" mode
10 −6 Micro- (μW) 1 × 10 −6 tech:
approximate consumption of a
quartz or mechanical wristwatch
(−30 dBm)
3 × 10 −6 astro: cosmic microwave
background radiation per square
Pulsed power
Pulsed power is the science and technology of accumulating
energy over a relatively long period of time and releasing it very quickly, thus increasing the
instantaneous power.

Overview
Energy is typically stored within electrostatic fields (capacitors ), magnetic fields ( inductor ), as
mechanical energy (using large flywheels connected to special purpose high current alternators), or
as chemical energy (high-current lead-acid batteries , or explosives ). By releasing the stored energy
over a very short interval (a process that is called energy compression), a huge amount of peak
power can be delivered to a load . For example, if one joule of energy is stored within a capacitor
and then evenly released to a load over one second, the average power delivered to the load would
only be 1 watt. However, if all of the stored energy were released within one microsecond , the
average power over one second would still be one watt, but the instantaneous peak power would be
one megawatt , a million times greater. Examples where pulsed power technology is commonly used
include radar , particle accelerators , ultrastrong magnetic fields, fusion research, electromagnetic
pulses , and high power pulsed lasers .

History
 where
P load is the maximum time averaged power delivered to the load, where the
maximization is over the load impedance, i.e., we desire the load impedance which
maximizes the time averaged power delivered to the load.
P input is the time averaged power entering the network
If the time averaged input power depends on the load impedance, one must take the maximum of the
ratio--not just the maximum of the numerator.

Available power gain

The available power gain of a two-port network, G A, is defined as:

Power density
Power density (or volume power density or volume specific power) is the
amount of power (time rate of energy transfer ) per unit volume .
Power density
SI unit W/ m3
In SI base units kg·m −1 s −3

Derivations from
other quantities P /V
In energy transformers including batteries , fuel cells , motors, etc., and also power supply units or similar,
power density refers to a volume. It is then also called volume power density , which is expressed as W/m3.
Volume power density is sometimes an important consideration where space is constrained.