Trying to explain torque to a friend

"THOMAS5" (THOMAS5) 10/03/2013 at 14:55 • Filed to: None

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Hardest thing in the world to explain. Anyone have a simple definition

TheLOUDMUSIC- Put it in H! > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 14:57

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Torque is how big the lever is. HP is how fast you can move it-James May

. . > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 14:57

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I just don't go in the details and say that power is the car's potential to go fast, while torque is how strongly it pulls. I know it's massively simplistic but at least people sort of get that.

Party-vi > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 15:01

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Torque gets you moving; horsepower keeps you there.

For Sweden > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 15:03

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Horsepower is how fast you can go. Torque is how steep of a hill you can climb while going that fast.

HammerheadFistpunch > TheLOUDMUSIC- Put it in H! 10/03/2013 at 15:06

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yup.

Chteelers > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 15:14

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Torque is what you feel. Horsepower sells cars.

dropthatclutch > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 15:18

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Torque = Force X Distance

Use the cheater bar on a wrench example.

Ex. President Mack41 > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 15:19

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Rotational force.

TSLA > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 15:22

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Tell him to watch the EngineeringExplained video.

Nibbles > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 15:39

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Torque is what gets the cap off your beer.

PS9 > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 15:40

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What is Torque?

The tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis.

What's horsepower, then? Why is it different?

Horse power is a very specific measurement of power, which is work done over time; 1 hp = 746 W, with 1 Watt = 1 Joule (energy)/second (time)

Torque is different because it is a Force. Power is a measurement of a force over a measurement of time. We must look to the history of defining horsepower to see how the two are related and non-trivially different.

The idea was later used by James Watt to help market his improved steam engine . He had previously agreed to take royalties of one third of the savings in coal from the older Newcomen steam engines . [7] This royalty scheme did not work with customers who did not have existing steam engines but used horses instead. Watt determined that a horse could turn a mill wheel 144 times in an hour (or 2.4 times a minute). The wheel was 12 feet in radius; therefore, the horse travelled 2.4 × 2 × 12 feet in one minute. Watt judged that the horse could pull with a force of 180 pounds. So:

Using this information, James Watt discovered that a Horse can generate about 33,000 ft*lb per minute. In other words, this is about as much power you can get from one Horse. Ergo; Horsepower. The ft*lb measurement is the work, and the minute measurement is the time. This is how torque and horsepower are related.

Why can we multiply torque in some circumstances but not horsepower?

Torque as a force is dependent on the length of the moment arm. That is, the larger the rotating object is, the more rotating force you need to get it moving at the same relative angular velocity. There are a couple of ways to make this happen in specific circumstances for a car - Usually rear end gears and Torque converters are the mods responsible for this. But again, it only works in specific instances, and doesn't act as a permanent boost to torque over all.

This can also work against you; upgrading to larger wheels means said wheels are going to require more work to rotate at the same speed, which is why rollin' on dubs usually means taking a hit in MPG.

Why do diesels produce so much more Torque then Horsepower?

Big bore, big stroke = big torque. There's more to it than that, but I can't offer much more than conjecture beyond those two culprits.

matt > PS9 10/03/2013 at 15:55

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PS9 > matt 10/03/2013 at 15:59

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ThatWillBuffOut > THOMAS5 10/03/2013 at 16:23

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Horsepower gives you a rate of acceleration. Torque gets you up to the rate of acceleration.