Watt

James Watt, Scottish engineer

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Two successive views of the same simple electrical heater and measuring instrument: its power stays at 1 W while its elapsed-time and delivered-energy counters advance from 0 s and 0 J to 1 s and 1 J.

noun

watt

WAHT/wɑːt/

The SI unit of power equal to one joule per second.

Etymology

wattEnglishJames Watt, Scottish engineer

Watt is the surname of the engineer honored by the power unit's name. It was adopted as a practical unit of electrical power, turning a personal name into a technical measure.

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