Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins What Is a Watt?
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Jul 2, 2025 Dive into the basics of energy and power as the hosts break down key concepts like joules, watts, and megawatts. Discover how shifting from incandescent to LED lights saves energy, and learn about the rising energy demands of electric vehicles. The podcast also clarifies how electricity consumption varies across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Packed with practical examples, it sets the stage for better understanding of our power grid and its future challenges.
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Energy vs Power: Basic Physics
- Energy is the capacity to do work, measured in joules, which relates to moving a mass over a distance with force.
- Power is the rate of energy use or production, measured in watts (joules per second), differentiating quantity from speed of consumption.
Energy and Power Relationship
- Energy is the total amount used or produced, while power is the rate at which energy is used or produced.
- Power equals energy divided by time, and energy equals power times time, highlighting their fundamental relationship.
Understanding Household Power Use
- A typical U.S. household averages about 1.2 kilowatts of power consumption over the day.
- This translates to roughly 24–29 kilowatt hours of electricity used daily per household.