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.
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.
Wasn’t one unit of horsepower meant to represent sustained power, not peak power of a horse?
What about B horse?
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.
it can still run for years at the same output, which is impossible for a horse.
Depends which horse.
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.
1hp is the average power over time for a horse. That 15hp number is peak. There’s like a whole thing with lifting a set weight up and seeing how far the horse traveled and whatnot to get to that number which is sorta interesting but it ends in hp is sorta flawed and we mostly use it wrong but still it’s neat.
Watts are superior for this reason.
