Everyday Science · 45 sec
Electric power
The science behind something you encounter, use, or wonder about.
The useful idea
- The useful idea
Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a circuit.
- How it works
Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power, defined as one joule per second.
- Why it matters
Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions of watts are called kilowatts, megawatts and gigawatts respectively.
Why this matters
Look for Electric power the next time you notice this pattern in everyday life.
Try this
Look for Electric power the next time you notice this pattern in everyday life.
Test your recall
Which idea belongs to the explanation of Electric power?
- Why it matters
- How it works
- The useful idea — correct
Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a circuit.