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4.5 Power

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Power

Power is the rate at which work is done or energy is transferred. Power tells us how quickly energy is used or work is completed. Power is a scalar, measured in units of Watts (W), and represented with the variable

{P}

P_avg=\frac{W]{Δ t}=(Δ E)/(Δ t)

${P_{avg}}$ represents the average power exerted on a system
${\Delta t}$ is the duration of time over which the power was exerted
${W}$ is the work done onto the system
${\Delta E}$ is the change in energy of the system

For example, if 50 J of work is done in a window of 2 s, the power exerted will be 25 W. This also means that the object that the work was done on has gained 50 J in the 2 s.

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