If a horse has 1 horsepower and can run at 15 mph max, how come

except the average horse has 15hp

aerodynamics and gearing exist too

>>15077229
>1 horse
>has the power of 15 horses

????

speed isn't how hp is measured.

>>15077231
Hp is a set amount of work over time.

>>15077239
Right. Specifically, it's the average amount of work a horse can do in a four hour period, meaning that peak performance is much more than a single horsepower. It actually is 15 hp (okay, 14.9 hp, but I'm rounding) for your average workhorse, but it can only sustain that output for a very short time.

>>15077216
Keeping it simple, it's all about aerodynamics. The faster you go, the greater the air resists your movement, so the power needed for a 2,000 kg car to accelerate from 0-60 in 5 seconds is drastically less than it needs to accelerate from 60-120 in the same time.

>>15077216
Hmmm imagine a machine that has 200 horses at full glop on treadmills using gear reduction to drive wheels... the whole thing going at 3000mph.

Steam punk as fuck.

>>15077216
Horses run faster than 15mph you fucking mong

>>15077216

Power = velocity x resistive force

In terms of a car, aerodynamic resistive forces ramp up exponentially as you increase speed. When you go past 200 mph, you need many more horsepower to even gain an extra 1 mph

You also have exponentially increasing drivetrain losses, torque curve variations etc. but those are less prominent.

>>15077452
i was having a mediocre day but 4chan knows how to cheer a nigga up.