Dear Phil and All, To further complicate this issue, I have recently seen small electrical hand tools, such as rechargeable hand drills and electric screwdrivers, using volts to distinguish their various 'power' ratings.
I hadn't noticed this until I overheard someone in a hardware store say, 'This one's 14.4 volts so it'll be more powerful that the 12 volt or the 6 volt drills'. Although it was the use of the word 'power' that attracted my attention, I soon noticed this novel use of the unit, volt. Cheers, Pat Naughtin LCAMS Geelong, Australia Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by sending an email containing the words subscribe Metrication matters to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- on 4/2/04 4:35 AM, Phil Chernack at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Power is usually given in amps because it is easier to calculate the load on > a particular breaker in your house this way. For instance, if I have a 15 > amp circut and I put a 3 amp appliance on it, I know my remaining draw > before blowing the circut is 10 or so amps (allowing for a margin of > safety). If power was given in watts only, I would have to divide watts by > volts to get the amperage draw. BTW, most, if not all appliances give the > wattage as well. Remember, American homes have 3 phase power coming into > them. One bus at 220 divided into 2 at 110 each. The total amperage > provided is usually around 200. > > Phil
