Kilowatt

Kilowatt

A Kilowatt (symbol: kW) is a unit of power in the International System of Units (SI). The term kilowatt is derived from the prefix 'kilo-' which means thousand and the base unit 'watt', named after the Scottish engineer James Watt.

Definition

The kilowatt is defined as one thousand watts. A watt is defined as one joule per second, where a joule is the unit of energy in the International System of Units. Therefore, a kilowatt is a measure of the rate of energy transfer or conversion.

Usage

Kilowatts are commonly used to express the output power of engines and the power of electric motors, tools, machines, and heaters. It is also a common unit used to express the electromagnetic power output of broadcast radio and television transmitters.

In the context of electricity, kilowatts are often used to measure the consumption of electricity in kilowatt hours (kWh), a standard unit of energy.

Conversion

One kilowatt is equivalent to approximately 1.34 horsepower. It can also be converted to British thermal units per hour (BTU/hr) with one kilowatt being approximately 3412 BTU/hr.

See also

• Watt
• Megawatt
• Gigawatt
• Terawatt
• Petawatt
• Energy
• Power (physics)