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horsepower

(Encyclopedia)horsepower, unit of power in the English system of units. It is equal to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute or 550 foot-pounds per second or approximately 746 watts. The term horsepower originated with Jam...

tugboat

(Encyclopedia)tugboat, small, strongly built vessel, used to guide large oceangoing ships into and out of port and to tow barges, dredging and salvage equipment, and disabled vessels. Tugboats range in overall leng...

Watt, James

(Encyclopedia)Watt, James, 1736–1819, Scottish inventor. While working at the Univ. of Glasgow as an instrument maker, Watt was asked to repair a model of Thomas Newcomen's steam engine. He devised improvements t...

snowmobile

(Encyclopedia)snowmobile, vehicle designed to travel over snow, ice, and similar surfaces that offer limited traction and weight-supporting capability. As the performance of the vehicle depends to a large extent on...

marine engine

(Encyclopedia)marine engine, machine for the propulsion of watercraft. The earliest marine power plants, reciprocating steam engines, were used almost exclusively until the early 1900s. In later ship construction t...

Chávez, Carlos

(Encyclopedia)Chávez, Carlos kärˈlōs shäˈvās [key], 1899–1975, Mexican composer and conductor. In 1928, Chávez established the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, which he conducted until 1949. He was also dire...

seaplane

(Encyclopedia)seaplane, airplane designed to take off from and alight on water. The two most common types are the floatplane, whose fuselage is supported by struts attached to two or more pontoon floats, and the fl...

power, in physics

(Encyclopedia)power, in physics, time rate of doing work or of producing or expending energy. The unit of power based on the English units of measurement is the horsepower, devised for describing mechanical power b...

airplane

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Side view of jet-propelled airplane B. Top view airplane, aeroplane, or aircraft, heavier-than-air vehicle, mechanically driven and fitted with fixed wings that support it in flight thro...

work

(Encyclopedia)work, in physics and mechanics, transfer of energy by a force acting to displace a body. Work is equal to the product of the force and the distance through which it produces movement. Although both fo...

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