50 W to ft·lbf/s — 50 watts in foot-pounds per second
Exact 50 ÷ 1.355818 = 36.878107
50 watts in other units
| Kilowatts | 0.05 | kW |
|---|---|---|
| Megawatts | 0.00005 | MW |
| Mechanical horsepower | 0.0670511 | hp |
| Metric horsepower | 0.06798108 | PS |
| BTU per hour | 170.607082 | BTU/h |
| Foot-pounds per second | 36.878107 | ft·lbf/s |
W to ft·lbf/s at a glance
| Watts | Foot-pounds per second |
|---|---|
| 1 W | 0.73756215 ft·lbf/s |
| 2 W | 1.475124 ft·lbf/s |
| 3 W | 2.212686 ft·lbf/s |
| 5 W | 3.687811 ft·lbf/s |
| 10 W | 7.375621 ft·lbf/s |
| 20 W | 14.751243 ft·lbf/s |
| 25 W | 18.439054 ft·lbf/s |
| 50 W | 36.878107 ft·lbf/s |
| 100 W | 73.756215 ft·lbf/s |
| 250 W | 184.390537 ft·lbf/s |
| 500 W | 368.781075 ft·lbf/s |
| 1,000 W | 737.562149 ft·lbf/s |
How to convert watts to foot-pounds per second
Multiply by 0.73756215 — one watt is 0.73756215 foot-pounds per second. That factor is exact: it comes from the definition of the units rather than from a measurement, so it will not change and does not need rounding.
Working 50 ÷ 1.355818 = 36.878107
In words: about thirty-seven foot-pounds per second.
What these units are
The watt and the foot-pound per second are covered in the power unit guide, along with every other unit on this page.
Questions
How many foot-pounds per second are in a watt?
One watt is 0.73756215 foot-pounds per second. This figure is exact — it comes from the definition of the unit, not a measurement.
What is 50 watts in foot-pounds per second?
50 watts is 36.878107 foot-pounds per second. The working is 50 ÷ 1.355818 = 36.878107.
Why does the same car have two different horsepower figures?
Because there are two horsepowers. Metric horsepower, written PS or CV, is 735.49875 W; mechanical horsepower, written hp or bhp, is about 745.7 W. A car sold as 150 PS in Germany is 148 hp in Britain, and nothing about the engine has changed.
Where does 746 watts come from?
From James Watt, who needed to sell steam engines to people who owned horses. He measured a mill horse turning a wheel and settled on 550 foot-pounds per second — a figure most real horses cannot sustain, which made the comparison flattering to his engines.
How do I read an air conditioner's BTU rating?
BTU ratings are BTU per hour, a rate of heat movement, even when the "per hour" is dropped. A 12,000 BTU/h unit shifts about 3.5 kW of heat. That is not what it draws from the wall — a decent unit moves several times more heat than the electricity it consumes.
What is the difference between power and energy?
Power is a rate, energy is an amount. A kilowatt is how fast something uses energy; a kilowatt-hour is how much it used. A 2 kW heater running for three hours has a power of 2 kW throughout and has consumed 6 kWh. Bills are in energy; ratings are in power.