What is Power?
- In physics, power is denotated by P and describes the rate of work done, or the rate of energy transfer.
- It is calculated as:
P = E/Δt
or P = W/Δt
- Where P is power, E is transferred energy, and Δt is the time taken.
- However, as work is equal to force multiplied by displacement, and velocity is displacement over time, power can also be defined as:
P = Fv
- As power is the transferred energy divided by time, it means that power is the derivative of work.
- This means that the gradient of work-time graph is equivalent to power, and that the area underneath a power-time graph is the work done.