HORSEPOWER VS TORQUE SIMPLEST EXPLANATION 

Horsepower is how many times the torque of the engine is applied to the wheels every second. This was the magic line that solved everything.

Very good, although missing the explanation of lower gearing producing lower top speed

I think it is important to show the fact that the lower-torque car has a higher top speed than the modified, higher-torque car. The lack of this clarification at the end might make someone wonder why any car has low torque if there seems to be no downside to raising it with gears or whatnot.

Good explanation! It starts to make sense once you realize a gear is simply a series of levers arranged in an array around the gear's axis. Gears are "continuous levers".

I still find the explanation for Mustang owners the simplest: _"horsepower is how fast you hit the crowd when pulling at cars and coffee, torque is how many bodies you can drag along before their weight forces your car to stop"_

I find it helpful to recognize they are different units of measure. Torque is a static measurement and HP has a time component.

After showing the wrench demonstration I think they should compare that to riding a bicycle at high speeds since it's something you can feel and understand as you're practically the engine in a bicycle, unlike in a car. In a higher gear when you start pedalling, the wheels are applying more force but are turning slower and thus the bike is pushing harder forward, but consequently you can't pedal as fast. If a gear gives you more force, it must give you less speed and vice versa.

I have never fully understood the difference between torque, horsepower and how gears work until i watched this. Thank you!

My third year studying mechanical engineering and this the best most concise explanation of torque I've seen.

It is very straightforward when using identical electric motors and the difference in torque is created in the transmission and the torque is applied constantly. It gets a lot more complex when talking about internal combustion engines. This is because torque is applied in increasing and diminishing pulses once every 2 revolutions. The torque measure is effectively a factor of the amount of explosive force created by combustion at a given speed multiplied by the mechanical advantage derived by crankshaft design which is a constant. Its main use is to indicate how easily the engine can move a static load, or typically heavy loads at low rpm, it does not tell you how much work can be done and at what rate. BHP on the other hand uses the torque figure multiplied by how many times that force is applied each second. Thus if you are interested in how fast it can make a car go for instance Car A producing 100NM of torque at 2000rpm would do the same amount of work as Car B producing 50NM at 4000rpm and in theory equally in performance. How that converts to actual performance in a car is complex as gearing and mechanical losses also come into play but the basic principle is true. The typical engine speed that produces the biggest bang is around 3000 - 4000rpm and that is the maximum torque figure, after that combustion efficiency increasingly diminishes as engine speed rises so at say 7000rpm where it is doing more work and creating higher BHP with a smaller bang and less torque. Race engines are typically capable of efficiency at higher rpm and that is their advantage in creating higher BHP and performance.

It would be interesting to explore the potential for an inverse square law with this. Where the weight and density of the gears, or the length of your wrench extender you add cause the resistance to be greater than the applied torque, making it difficult to turn the wheels, or the extender breaks halfway, etc.

Nice, but it would be nice to see a situation in which the unmodified car could out perform the modified one, as you described with the race car vs the truck on a race track.

Great video and good explanation but I feel there is something missing here. From the video you get the expression that, with one gear setup, you get the highest torque, and the highest speed, which normally would not be the case. Power (kW) = Torque (N.m) x Speed (RPM) / 9.5488. To explain this, in a normal car you normaly start in first gear to have the maximum torque to get the car moving, but the speed is very limited. And once you are moving you switch to higher gears because you do not need the same torque, but you want higher speed. But the motor and the rest of the system is still the same

You can make a 10:1 lever and hang off of it to create 2000 ft lbs of torque, but try propelling a car with that. Horsepower is like torque per second, and if you have a shit ton of torque, but like 100 horsepower, you won’t be going very quick, but you will be able to move a heavy thing slowly.

Great demo; extra kudos for showing your experimental progression. Most folks wouldn't show the plowing thru the barrier and crashing, then securing/gluing the barrier, then adding rubber bands for traction. It's more entertaining when you 'show your work'.

Muito bem explicado! Obrigado pela aula! 🇧🇷

Torque = power divided by angular speed (angle of rotation per second). No matter how few HP an engine has, if it's connected to a gearbox that turns slowly enough, it can move anything. That's why you are driving up a steep hill in a low gear. The car will apply more torque to the wheels through its gearbox. That's not to be confused with the torque of the engine itself which is the torque at the crankshaft, i.e. before the gearbox.

Это хорошее объяснение работы КПП но никак не объяснение лошадиных сил и крутящего момента

Horsepower is how fast you're going when you hit a wall. Torque is how far you take the wall with you

That experiment with the cars and a gearset being added to one of them, really blew my mind. That example is so simple and straight to the point without any intellectually self jerking explanation. Subbed.

Очень поверхностное объяснение, которое рассказывает, как работает коробка передач, но абсолютно не раскрывает разницу между двигателем легкового автомобиля и трактора

"Horsepower gets you to the wall" "Torque gets you through the wall" -my step dad

Hello, I loved how you increased the coefficient of friction with a little rubber band. It would be a great demonstration to your average viewer, to demonstrate coefficient of friction. Explaining why two cars engaged in a tug of war contest can be manipulated by tires choice so that either one can win.

The principle of extension of wrench arm to gear was fantastic explanation. Thank you very much

Great explanation, however the the track you used isn't long enough to fully demonstrate the differences between the 2. As other comments have said, horsepower includes the measurement of time. One of the best ways this has been described is(in the reference to drag racing) torque gets you off the line, horsepower gets you down the track. Given a longer run time for the 2 cars used this example, the higher horsepower car would reach the finish faster than the high torque car.

Adding another gear is clled gear reduction which increases the torque by multiplication and slows the overall top speed due to (numerically) higher gearing...

Thanks. Clear, comprehensive and practical demonstration. Loved it!! ❣️❣️

In the last comparison, the toy car on the left having an higher applied torque than the one on the right is able to act on the ground an higher friction force, being the lever arm the same in both cars. Major traction means more acceleration and therefore more variation of momentum (speed) in the time unit!

You'd have better acceleration with the lower gear but also you reduce max speed (same to the extended lever arm).

It seems to be you should have included top end speed over time also.

Very nice! I think a good idea would be to show a high horsepower model car vs high torque model car, with a straight race, straight race with loads, uphill race, upihill with loads. I think this would make it really easy to understand the difference!

Amazing! Probably the best explanation of power and torque on the internet.

As pointed out below, what's missing is the 2 cars on a longer track, showing the decreased top-speed the modified car now has. In my opinion, right at the end of the video. Otherwise, a perfect video. Very simplistic, but that was one of the goals here. Good going!!

I talked with my dad and watched 3 videos about this and got nothing. This video did it for me. Thank you!

Thanks for the video explaining about Torque and Horsepower. Now I can easily understand why lorries or trucks (as it is called in the US) needs to have more gears than a car.

I'm wondering always this situation. This video explain the whole mechanic system. Thanks *The Maker* 🔧

Just happy to see something worth watching. Thought he did a good job of explaining the basics of it. Anything else would have most people lost.

Читать и смотреть то ещё удовольствие))

Insane ! I wish I had teachers having the same ability to explain

Só entendi quando o carro empurra o tubo e despenca no precipício arrastando a casa😮. Brincadeira a parte, excelente vídeo e explicação! Ganhou o like!!

Basically times load x speed a given horsepower motor can move a heavy weight slowly, or a light weight fast. The sports car motor compared to the truck could potentially move the same weight as the truck with low enough gearing. The reason they don't use the same motor between the two vehicles is the truck motor does around 2000rpm so it lasts crossing the country, driving across the country at 8000rpm won't happen for to long.

This was a great video! So simple and informative without any BS or frills. Thank you!

Terima kasih informasinya jelas bermanpaat dan edukatif

Fantastic video! Really helped me understand the two concepts better. As my reciprocating engine teacher said: “Horsepower is how fast you’re going when you hit the wall. Torque is how far you go through the wall.” It is worth noting that simply extending the arm does not increase torque without cost. To keep the overall work the same (because the same amount of power is input), the distance required to move the arm the same amount of degrees is greater. It is a tradeoff between arm length and distance moved (not degrees moved). Just like riding a bike; when you downshift to get more torque, you have to pedal more revolutions (greater circular distance) to travel the same amount of distance than a higher gear would need.

Whoa, thanks for this explanation. I never thought to look this up but it's something I've always wondered about in the back of my mind

Torque is a measure of the force going to the wheels at that exact moment in time. Horsepower is a measure of how much work is done over a period of time, like a second or a minute or an hour, day, whatever.

Gracias por la explicación va directo al grano. EXCELENTE VIDEO así explicado con manzanitas (bueno con carritos) claro q entiendo!!!! Gracias :-)

Nice explanation.I've always wondered about difference between these two things. I've been driving my car for 8 years already and only now i got it. So anyway it is about a gearbox kinda way.

No loud music, no needless intros, just the facts. Love it

Aí, mais uma boa recomendação do RU-vid! Boa explicação do vídeo, claro e eficiente.

Explaining how to produce and measure HP/torque is interesting; explaining how (and why) we experience HP/torque, especially the “vs” part, would be even more interesting.

Great video. You left out one thing. You get nothing for free. For the same power engine, increased torque, sacrifices top speed. You can think of it as the extended lever in the example. With the long lever, you have to cover a bigger distance where you apply the force to rotate the nut.

When I was a kid I used to love playing with k'nex gears and learned this concept. I had built a crane and used a wind mill powered by a fan and it was able to lift really heavy weights since I geared it right down. Did other fun stuff like that too like winch etc.

Thank you, this is the best explanation for a layman that I've seen.

I love the explanation of Torque. Thank you for that. I understand torque now. But if you had also done the same for Horsepower, that would have been a comparison. I am still unclear on the difference.

i have never been able to understand so better in this video than others

thank you for simplifying the concepts! i understand there is probably a lot more to it but for a layman this was great!

This was easily one of the best explanation videos I've ever seen on this topic.

Thanks for the informative video this is one of the best I have seen.

What is missing here is the following: electric motors have (almost) constant torque, but variable power. The reason that the left car with gears accelerates faster is not only greater torque, but also greater power output of the motor due to greater RPM at the same car speed. The power rating on most electric motors is the MAXIMUM power a motor can generate (before burning out). The left car (with greater torque) will reach maximum power sooner, at lower (car) speed, then it will either stop accelerating, burn out or be electronically limited. The right car will reach max power at greater speed (if it can reach that speed at all), then stop/burn/block.

В эксперименте не объясняется связь мощности и момента двигателя. Ведь добавление шестерен - это изменение передаточного числа. А это уже трансмиссия.

Me ha quedado claro el tema del par y torque muchas gracias.

Man that was some dramatic stuff going on. My heart is still beating fast and my nerves are worn out. Thank you for this. :)

very well explained - visual aids always helps. Thanks man.

As a visual learner this does a great job of explaining the difference.

03:00 If friction, traction and drag isn't an issue, the high-geared car with relative higher power would takeover the low-geared and rel high torque car in a long strip. But is an experiment with fixed gear and same plataform, with combustion engine vehicles other factors would be present, but the same principle applies.

But you didn't explained HP

Great explain, Thank you so much.

This was a great video. My only critique would have been to use different colors to help the audience keep track of which car was which during the demonstrations. Thank you again for the time and effort - it really was great!

Great explanation! However this video is missing a critical final demo of the unmodified car winning the race in a low load (flat) scenario.

This is great thank you! however I fail to understand why the unmodified car will be used if the modified car win in all scenarios. By reading the comments I understood in a longer distance the unmodified car will win but would be good to see it in the video.

Simple, neat and great explanation I have ever seen

Torque is how strong the engine's rotation is usually measured at a given rpm. So imagine an engine of a given weight where a tire of a given circumference is directly attached to each end of the crank shaft. If that engine makes 100 units of torque at 1 rpm and you compare it to an identical engine except it makes 100 units of torque at 1000 rpm, the 1000 rpm engine will travel farther in a minute outputting 100 units of torque than the 1 rpm engine, meaning the 1000 rpm engine has more horsepower. Horsepower is kind of like how far you can travel using a specific amount of torque which is why if an engine makes its torque higher in its revs, it makes more horsepower (more distance traveled/more revs completed in a given time).

No, it is not HP vs torque, just different gearing ratios. You just showed us how transmission works, but their engine is the same, with the same HP and torque.

Might want to try torquing those screws holding the vice to the bench

Güzel olmuş kullandığın dişli oranlarını yazar mısın? Tork'un yükle de ilişkili biliyorum ama Optimum ve ya en ideal dişli oranlarını yazarsan sevinirim.

Now I got my concept of Torque and Power clear. Excellent stuff! I will look for from you on this subject.

An excellent easy to understand explanation. Thank you

Really good explained. Thanks a lot!

Power=Work/Time=Force*Speed So it should be quite obvious, that more power at same speed equals a higher force, thus making it possible to accelerate higher masses. At the same time it should be clear, that the speed decreases, if you want to use a higher force with the same power. To be correct one should say, power and torque are completely different things, as power describes the average amount of work over time, where as torque just describes work. There is no serious way in comparing those to without referring to their context. For example diesel engines (and quite a lot of electric motors) tend to reach high peak torque figures but they can't utilise it to reach high power outputs. This is why gas engines usually reach way higher power levels with the same amount of peak torque, as they can deliver this torque more often in the same amount of time. If you want to use the same torque at the wheel, a gas engine would reach way higher speeds, as the higher power output in this context just means, that the same wheel torque is available over a higher range of speed. An example: Take N/A gas engines and compare their power factor, meaning power/torque (kW/Nm). Usually N/A gas engines reach between 0.5 to 0.6 kW/Nm, whereas diesel engines usually only reach about 0.25 to 0.3 kW/Nm. This means, a naturlly aspirated gas engine only needs about half the engine torque of a turbo diesel engine, to reach the same amount of wheel torque, if geared accordingly. With turbo charged gas engines a power factor of 0.5 to 0.6 is also possible, but way less common. As you are able to reach the same specific engine torque (Nm/l displacement) as diesel engines, which usually is about twice as high as with naturally aspirated engines (200Nm/l instead of about 100Nm/l), you could reach the same wheel torque over the same range of speed, but with only half the torque and half the displacement. In this case a 2l charged gas engine is capable to deliver the same power output as a 4l diesel engine does, while delivering the power more linear, netting you a flatter torque curve. In reality a lot of turbocharged gas engines are tuned way more than diesel engines, so you get more of the diesel engine's specific engine torque and less of the power factor of a N/A gas engine, which is quite sad.

You did a great job with this explanation/demonstration. Thank you!!!

Ещё можно объяснить простой формулой: мощность=частота вращения *момент. То есть при одинаковой мощности может быть разным соотношение частоты вращения и момента. Чем больше момент, тем меньше скорость и наоборот. Формула взята из книги «Теория электропривода».

Torque is simply a force applied in a turning motion. Horsepower is a measurement of work. My instructor in trades school explained it like this. Put a 6 foot wrench on a seized bolt, pull as hard as you can, but thr bolt doesnt turn. Did you put out torque? Yes! Loads of it, probably over 500 ft/lbs. Did you put out any horsepower? No, because the bolt did not turn. Horsepower is work, and work requires movement, either rotationally of linearly. If you look on youtube at those old steam tractors, they put out something like 110hp and 3000 ft/lbs of torque. Sounds too good to be true, until you realize they make that power and torque at about 200 rpm. If i took a 110hp honda engine and connected a gearbox to bring the speed down from 5000-6000 rpm down to 200 rpm it too would put out 3000 ft/lbs or torque.

Best explanation of this I've seen yet 👍

Torque is the literal force output at any given moment, horsepower is the rate at which it can be applied.

*Крутящий момент это "ускорение", а мощность это "скорость"!* Про крутящй момент: из двух автомобилей с одинаковыми массой и коробкой передач, со светофора быстрее стартанет тот, у которого двигло с большим крутящим моментом. Про мощность: из двух автомобилей с одинаковыми коэффициентом лобового сопротивления и коробкой передач, большей макс скорости достигнет тот у которго двигло большей мощности.

English & Português: You can learn this now, in practice. When I was a child I realized that when pushing a door there is technique. If you push closer to the hinge it's harder, if you push further away it's easier. (Dá pra aprender isso, na prática. Quando eu era criança eu percebi que há técnica até pra mexer em portas, se empurrar perto da dobradiça, é mais difícil, se empurrar longe, é mais fácil. Extra: O processo é mais rápido, mas cuidado com os dedos! É sério...

How cute💕 it is that they put rubber on tires for Friction!🥰

Finally. A simple explanation without formulas. This is how science should be explained. Thank you

with appropriate gearing, a smaller engine with less torque but same power can tow exactly the same weight as a higher torque engine. although to achieve the same work it will need higher rpm and usually will wear quicker, unless it's specifically designed to handle it, with adequate cooling, strong internal components, and well maintained (good oil and frequent changes). you can make up for torque with shorter gearing. you cannot make up for low power with torque. Now if your main goal is longevity or low maintenance, things are different.

Very good, but what I miss is the explanation why some engine has more torque that the other one, without including a gear box. This will probably happen by the construction of the engine and all the moving components inside the engine. Also the ability of generating higher or lower rotations per minute will have an great effect to the horsepower, as power is defined as "work or energy produced / time". Also missing: To show the speed advantage of the little car with less torque. In this example the one with lower gear transmission is best in all cases, so what would be the sense of the high power version then?

Great video! You also should have compared the max speed of the two vehicles at the end.

The way I like to think about it: horsepower is the energy output capability of the engine. Engines with more torque are more optimized to use that energy for pulling more weight, and engines with less torque are more optimized for making the car go faster.

Horsepower = Torque x RPM ÷ 5252 Comparing horsepower to torque is like comparing distance to time. Distance = Speed x Time

People often confuse the measure of torque of the drivetrain to the ground, vs the measure of torque of the piston force acting on the crankshaft. The engine’s torque rating is best conceptualized as the engine’s ability to change its own momentum. Two engines with very different intake, exhaust and architecture can have identical HP numbers, but very different torque values. The higher TQ engine will have a greater ability to accelerate its crankshaft, so it will spin up faster and generally perform better. It’s also worth noting for those that aren’t deep into physics, that a dynamometer does not measure HP, it measures torque. When you do a Dino run, the machine is measuring torque instantaneously as the RPM increase and calculating the HP at each of those data points. HP=TQ x RPM/5252 so you’ll notice that every Dino curve ever run (in HP and Lb-ft) crosses at 5252rpm because in that formula the 5252 constant cancels with the rpm value and you get … HP = TQ (5252rpm/5252) Just a bit of physics nerd stuff to think about.

Master explanation, many thanks!

Your illustration is brilliant. I often criticize car websites that specify / state the horsepower output without stating the torque figures and at what speed or rpm the max torque is produced. A good example is rotary engine which produces max torque at very high rpm versus turbo diesel power plant which focus more on torque rather than horsepower. For day to day driving torque is more important. That's why one magazine (referring to a turbo diesel engine) which I read in the past stated "it has more grunt than a pig farm" basically stressing / emphasizing how much torque that engine produced.

Very nice! Maybe you can add a point about top speed and how it applies to both scenarios.

keep in mind, more torque = less speed. Awesome video btw! real life examples are better than 3D animation

The best torque demonstration ever