Power (physics) - Mechanical Power

Mechanical Power

Power in mechanical systems is the combination of forces and movement. In particular, power is the product of a force on an object and the object's velocity, or the product of a torque on a shaft and the shaft's angular velocity.

Mechanical power is also described as the time derivative of work. In mechanics, the work done by a force F on an object that travels along a curve C is given by the line integral:

where x defines the path C and v is the velocity along this path. The time derivative of the equation for work yields the instantaneous power,

In rotational systems, power is the product of the torque τ and angular velocity ω,

where ω measured in radians per second.

In fluid power systems such as hydraulic actuators, power is given by

where p is pressure in pascals, or N/m2 and Q is volumetric flow rate in m3/s in SI units.