I agree with you Jesse. 5 W represents power and 5 J represents the energy used by a 5 W device in 1 s.
Put another way, power is instantaneous; energy requires time (even if that time is only a picosecond). Bill ________________________________ Bill Potts WFP Consulting Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ziser, Jesse Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 17:45 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:42115] Re: Problems with power --- Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > supply the power needed - supply the energy needed (Again a difficult > idea as the engineers have to provide an electrical plant with a power > rating that will provide the maximum amount of energy needed at a > particular time) This in particular illustrates the problem I have with your use of the term. It sounds like you're saying that a phrase like "supply the 5 watts of power needed by the motor" is incorrect and it should be "supply the 5 watts of energy needed by the motor". Is that what you're saying? Because this conflicts with the definition of the term "power" as I learned it in school. And a power rating specifying the amount of energy needed at one time? Well that's just gibberish to me. Please explain in more detail why you think these uses of "power" should be changed. I am confused.
