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.

[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 126 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Also why switching horses was a thing: a fully rested horse could run at a higher hp, then change horses and the new one could keep outputting thevhigher up whilecthe previous one rested.

Like switching rechargeable batteries, only the battery was the horse.

[–] Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works 69 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Wasn't one unit of horsepower meant to represent sustained power, not peak power of a horse?

[–] gramathy@lemmy.ml 35 points 1 year ago

Average, not necessarily sustained. Horse gotta rest at some point regardless of how much power it’s putting out

Iirc it’s an average over 1 day (24hrs) without regard to rest. So even sustained a horse is putting out more than 1hp at any given point in time

[–] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 year ago

That would be a logical explanation... Get out!

[–] atocci@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago

It's supposed to be the amount of work a strong horse can perform over one day on average.

[–] Rubanski@lemm.ee 53 points 1 year ago (1 children)

HP from now on is called humanpower.

[–] original_ish_name@lemm.ee 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's called "Health Points" smh

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago

Just another silly quirk of the imperial system.

Metric uses kilowatts.

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

It's just playing with fractions and linear extrapolation. Horsepower has a time denominator. If you measure how fast I can run (not fast) in .1 second intervals, then take the highest number and extrapolate that to miles per hour it will seem impressive.

[–] ForestOrca@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Keep questioning! For Science!

[–] affiliate@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

you have to be a horse to do the tour de france

[–] loutr@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Isn't it 1/15 of a horse? This makes my head hurt...

[–] affiliate@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

maybe a horse operating at 1/15th of it’s power would also work? i’m not really sure anymore

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Pro sprinters (cyclists) can temporarily put out over 2hp according to their data logs.