How many watts in a kilowatt of electricity: formula and table for calculating

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Watt (W, watt, W) is the generally accepted unit of measure for power. In the international SI system of units (SI), watt (abbreviated as W) refers to derived units. Very often, in calculations and in everyday life, it becomes necessary to convert kilowatts to watts and vice versa. In fact, translation is not difficult, but some find it difficult with the simplest calculations. That is why in this article we decided to describe in detail how many watts are in a kilowatt of electricity.

Content:

  • Power units ratio
  • Translation examples

Power units ratio

As we have already said, Watt refers to derived units, from which it follows that the value of this quantity can be expressed in terms of the basic units of the system. According to the basic definition, 1 watt is the power that does 1 joule of work for 1 second. Based on this, the representation of the 1 watt power value using basic units is as follows:

1 watt = 1 kg m2/with3,

In addition, W can be expressed using other units of measurement:

  • 1 watt = 1 J / s, (1 joule per second);
  • 1 watt = 1 Nm / s, (1 newton per meter per second).

For the convenience of practical application of units of measurement, in the international system, it is customary to use prefixes that determine the decimal multiplicity in relation to the original value. One of these prefixes is "kilo". This word is derived from the Greek "chilioi", which means "a thousand". Thus, using this prefix means that the original value should be increased by 103 once.

The formula that determines the ratio between the power, expressed in kilowatts (abbreviated designation - kW, kW) and W, is as follows:

1 kW = 1·103(1)

In kilowatts, it is customary to denote the power of many machines and assemblies that surround a person in everyday life and at work. Electric stoves, kitchen appliances, household air conditioners, washing machines, vacuum cleaners - this is an incomplete list of devices on which you can see the designation of the nominal power in kW. This also applies to combustion engines in modern cars. True, here, along with the value in kilowatts, there is often a designation of power in horsepower. The use of this non-systemic unit is nothing more than a tribute to a tradition that originates from the time of the appearance of the first steam engines, which replaced horse traction. For you to understand the ratio, the conversion of kilowatts to horsepower looks quite simple:

1 kW = 1.36 HP

Thus, the short answer to the question posed in the title of the article can be formulated as follows: in 1 kW, one thousand watts. The inverse relation to formula (1) can be written as follows:

1 W = 1 10-3 = 1/1000 kW (2)

How to convert kilowatt to watt? To do this, you need to multiply the number in W by 10-3, that is, divided by 1000. In order to carry out the reverse conversion from kW to W, it is enough to multiply the number of kilowatts by 103, or multiply by 1000.

For convenience, we present to your attention a table with which you can quickly convert watts to kilowatts and vice versa:

W kw
1 0,001
10 0,01
100 0,1
200 0,2
500 0,5
1000 1
1800 1,8
10000 10
100000 100

Translation examples

To make it clear to you how to convert kilowatts to watts and vice versa, we will provide some simple examples from life.

Example 1. The rating plate of the electric motor indicates the rated power of 1.5 kW. It is required to determine how to convert the power of this engine to watt. In accordance with the above, we multiply the number of kW by 1000:

Pnom = 1.5 (kW) 1000 = 1500 (W).

Example 2. The technical data table of the electric drill contains information: Pnom = 900 W. Let's calculate how many kW is a given power value:

Pnom = 900 (W) / 1000 = 0.9 (kW).

The name of the unit of measurement of power (kW) is heard by everyone who at least once handed over the meter readings to the power supply organization. For people far from electricity, some clarification should be made. The consumer pays for the consumed electricity, which is measured in kilowatt × hour, which can be seen in the photo below.

One kilowatt * hour is the energy consumed from the electrical network when a 1 kW load is switched on during an hour. For example, a powerful 500 W incandescent lamp, when switched on for one hour, consumes electrical energy in the amount of 500 W × h.

The principle of solving the problem of how to determine how many W × h in 1 kilowatt × hour of electricity is the same as in the case of power. That is, in our example:

500 W × h = 500/1000 kW × h = 0.5 kW × h.

Similarly, you can convert 60 watts to kilowatts (it will be 0.06 kW), 200, 300 or 2000 watts. We hope that the formulas and table provided have helped you understand how many watts are in a kilowatt of electricity, and how to correctly convert the units of measurement of power from one to another. If you have any questions, be sure to ask them in the comments below the post!

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