Torque Versus Horsepower
Many of those shopping for a car or truck have a hard time understanding the difference between torque and horsepower. It is easy to say one refers to pulling power and the other to speed, but that definition is a bit ambiguous for those who are not technically oriented.
How about this? A couple of weeks ago we skied in to our cabin in northern British Columbia. Outside of normal winter preparations, we needed to pull the boat up from the lake shore to its winter resting spot among the trees. The rowboat is lightweight aluminium, the distance only thirty metres or so, which for the non-metric folks out there is about a hundred feet. The problem was that about a metre of wet snow had fallen the week before, then temperatures had dropped. Our little craft was encased in snow, plus, hauling a snow-crusted boat through heavy snow can be a lot of work.
We got the boat loose, and set to work. The first few steps were a struggle, with one of us pushing and the other pulling, while up to our hips in snow. Finally, we got close enough to connect to a small winch that I had mounted to a post back in the forest. After that, beyond danger if the straining rope snapped, things went smoothly. This brings us back to our definitions.
Torque is what the winch created. It multiplied my effort due to gearing. I was cranking away, without much effort, and the boat got slowly dragged up off the beach. That is the key. Torque gave us pulling power, not rapid movement.
Imagine now that I had taken the boat out onto the lake at a time when it was smoothly iced over and free from snow. Assuming I had traction from cleats or cork boots, I could have pulled the boat along at a pretty good speed, running as fast as possible. This is horsepower, or in my case, human power.
There you have it. Without the torque of the winch that boat would still be lying on the beach. Torque alone, however, could only propel it along the smooth ice at a crawl. Pick your vehicle with a good combination of both, or tip the balance towards whichever power factor is most important in your driving.
Many of those shopping for a car or truck have a hard time understanding the difference between torque and horsepower. It is easy to say one refers to pulling power and the other to speed, but that definition is a bit ambiguous for those who are not technically oriented.
How about this? A couple of weeks ago we skied in to our cabin in northern British Columbia. Outside of normal winter preparations, we needed to pull the boat up from the lake shore to its winter resting spot among the trees. The rowboat is lightweight aluminium, the distance only thirty metres or so, which for the non-metric folks out there is about a hundred feet. The problem was that about a metre of wet snow had fallen the week before, then temperatures had dropped. Our little craft was encased in snow, plus, hauling a snow-crusted boat through heavy snow can be a lot of work.
We got the boat loose, and set to work. The first few steps were a struggle, with one of us pushing and the other pulling, while up to our hips in snow. Finally, we got close enough to connect to a small winch that I had mounted to a post back in the forest. After that, beyond danger if the straining rope snapped, things went smoothly. This brings us back to our definitions.
Torque is what the winch created. It multiplied my effort due to gearing. I was cranking away, without much effort, and the boat got slowly dragged up off the beach. That is the key. Torque gave us pulling power, not rapid movement.
Imagine now that I had taken the boat out onto the lake at a time when it was smoothly iced over and free from snow. Assuming I had traction from cleats or cork boots, I could have pulled the boat along at a pretty good speed, running as fast as possible. This is horsepower, or in my case, human power.
There you have it. Without the torque of the winch that boat would still be lying on the beach. Torque alone, however, could only propel it along the smooth ice at a crawl. Pick your vehicle with a good combination of both, or tip the balance towards whichever power factor is most important in your driving.
Labels: Torque versus Horsepower
posted by Alan S. at
7:19 PM
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