WATT

The Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) recognizes the term watt as a synonym for watt. Watt, in fact, comes from the surname of the engineer and mathematician James Watt ( 1736 - 1819 ), a scientist who did an important job in creating the steam engine.

This Scotsman invented mathematical application tools for Glasgow University and built various Newcomen machines until he could perfect the system. In 1784 , he patented the steam engine and, sixteen years later, he retired to Heathfield Hall , an English town near Birmingham .

In order to really understand this concept, it is necessary to first establish that of electrical energy , which refers to the ability of a computer to operate with a certain amount of "fuel". When connecting a device to the electrical voltage, the energy that reaches it begins to flow through the conductor and allows the device to begin to develop the functions for which it was programmed, for example: a lamp lights up when you press the light switch. It is necessary to say that energy is not something that can be created or destroyed, but is transformed, electrical energy for example is transformed allowing the obtaining of light, heat, cold or movement .

There are many ways to measure energy, according to the ways in which it is represented, that is, if it is electrical, hydraulic , wind or caloric . Hydraulic energy (the one found in liquids), its power can be measured by calculating the number of liters that can be transferred in one second, while electrical power allows us to know at what speed electrical energy is transformed into heat, movement or whatever of the ways in which this type of energy can be converted.

That is to say that the electrical power (represented by the watt or watt ) establishes at what speed the electrical energy can be transformed. It is a unit that is used in the International System of Units ( SI ) and is written with the symbol W , which is derived from the basic ones of the SI and is equivalent to 1 Joule per second ( 1J / s ). The Joule is the measure used to count the amount of energy that is used and is represented by the letter J. This means that if 1 Joule is consumed in one second, 1 watt of electrical power would be consumed.

As a unit belonging to the SI, the watt was accepted by the II Congress of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1889 and by the XI General Conference of Weights and Measures that took place in 1960 .

If it is expressed in the units used in electricity, the watt is defined as the power generated according to the difference between an electrical current of 1 ampere ( 1 VA ) and 1 volt. This means that low power electrical devices can be defined according to their watts, although high power devices use kilowatts ( kW ). One kW is equal to 1,000 watts and 1.35984 hp ( horsepower ).

Another unit derived from the watt is the megawatt , whose symbol is MW and is equal to one million watts. This unit of measurement is used in larger electric motors, laser machines, and warships.

It is necessary to clarify that if energy supplies are constant, which occurs in almost all electrical energy providers, it can be stated with certainty that the greater the power of the electrical equipment being used, the greater the current intensity. let him travel through the circuits . Currently, companies usually send a voltage lower than 220 V which can cause that when the voltage decreases, the energy consumption increases and the devices end up burning due to this harmful phase shift in the electrical movement.

Finally, it should be noted that if we want to know the consumption of an electrical device , we can read what it says on the metal sheet, it is generally located on the back of the device. It is very important that the devices do not receive less voltage than that stated on this plate and that, in the event of a low voltage, they are disconnected because otherwise they will burn.