Calculate Horsepower
Most car enthusiasts can tell you the horsepower of their favorite vehicle. But what does that measurement really mean? And what does it have to do with horses? Find out with this mathematical challenge.
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More About This Resource...
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This activity, created to complement the museum's The Horse exhibit, helps students understand the unit of horsepower and how it came to be used.
- Students first choose a make and model of a vehicle and research its engine’s horsepower.
- They then complete the calculations on an included Solving Horsepower worksheet.
- The activity ends with a classroom discussion about how and why engines revolutionized the work that horses did during James Watt’s day.
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Completion Time
Approximately 1 period
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