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SigmundAtoday at 2:13 AM1 replyview on HN

A watt of power multiplied by a second of time has an agreed upon name called joule, but a watt second is also a perfectly valid SI name.

A watt is a joule of energy divided by a second of time, this is a rate, joule per second is also a valid name similar to nautical mile per hour and knot being the same unit.

Multiplication vs division, quantity vs rate, see the relationship? Units may have different names but are equivalent, both the proper name and compound name are acceptable.

A watt hour is 3600 joules, it’s more convenient to use and matches more closely with how electrical energy is typically consumed. Kilowatt hour is again more directly relatable than 3.6 megajoules.

Newton meter and Coulomb volt are other names for the joule. In pure base units it is a kilogram-meter squared per second squared.


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hunter2_today at 2:58 AM

So when I torque all 20 of my car's lug bolts to 120 n-M, I've exerted 2/3 of a W-h? So if it takes me 4 minutes, I'm averaging 10 watts? That's neat. I wonder what the peak wattage (right as the torque wrench clicks) would be; it must depend on angular velocity.

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