Hey there,
This may seem like a simple question, but what is torque? I've asked around, and judging from the fact that I haven't gotten a clear answer yet, I'm assuming those that I asked didn't know. Can anyone explain it to me.. clearly and simply.. without guessing?
Thanks, just want to know..

Clean

 

Probably the most basic terms to put it in is this:

Torque is the amount of work the motor can do

Horse Power is the rate at which the motor can perform work

This is very watered down, but is the basic jist of it...

 

Torque gets you going from a stop while horsepower helps out in the upper Rpms. A good example is the 83 rx7 has its torque around 4000 while an SE has it around 2750. this is why an SE will take off alot faster.

 

-When at a track-
-Torque is how hard you hit the wall
-Horsepower is how fast you hit it

 

Torque is a measure of how much a force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. The object rotates about an axis, (the pivot point). The distance (r) from the pivot point to the point where the force F acts is called the moment arm.

This distance, 'r', is also a vector, and points from the axis of rotation to the point where the force acts

And if you're a realy physics geek check out the diagram below...

 

That's a good textbook definition of torque. In simple terms it is the amount of force a motor puts out to spin the wheels. Since force is a product of mass times acceleration, the higher the torque, the quicker is the acceleration.

 

Torque is what makes you feel good when you press down that pedal... Its also what gets you into a lot of trouble if you cant handle it... More difficult launches and a bit of fun in less than perfect weather

 

Torque is a measure of force in a curved shape.

Say you have a box that weighs one pound. You've gotta move it a foot to the left. Therefore, you must put one foot/pound of force into the box.

Now, say you've gotta move the same box two feet. You've gotta put two foot/pounds into it. Or, say you put another pound of crap into the box, but only need to move it one foot. Again.. It requires two foot/pounds of force.

Say you have a two pound box that you need to move two feet. You need four foot pounds of force.

The same deal works for torque because it's basically the same force, just in a curve.

Say you've got a short wrench, but you've got that nasty flywheel nut to get off. You weigh 150 pounds (So you can't pull on the wrench with your weight.) , but that nut is on at 300 or better. Stick a pipe on the end of the wrench. Because you trade length for power, in order to move that nut, you'd need more power on the short wrench than you'd need on a long wrench.

This is why you can't accelerate in high gears or go fast in low gears. the gears trade power for distance.

 

Torque is a force acting aginst an object that is not moving (like a car that is stopped, but beginning to accelerate). The amount of torque applied determines how quickly the object can go from a non moving state to a moving state. Once the object is already moving, torque becomes less important. That is where horsepower helps to keep the object moving and helps to accelerate it.

Torque is the same as horsepower at 5252RPM because of the way they are measured.

Torque can be applied to anything - even if it is not moving at all. Ever pull really hard on a wrench? You've applied lots of torque to it, but it didn't move the nut.

 

one of the wrench heads i know always says..

HP is what sells cars, Torque is what wins the race.

needless to say, he is a dragrace nut.

 

Like Pele, and 7Wannabe explanations...
Physically, torque is "Twisting" or "turning" power. It's obviously measured in Foot Pounds, hence the demarcations on a "Torque Wrench," so to measure the torque or twist/turn power to tighten a bolt or nut to a certain spec. Any engine also has "twisting" power from off the crankshaft and it too is measued torque in foot pounds. In tractor pulls, it's torque that is more important than horsepower.

Denny, from the 'ol corncrib...

 

Okay, I think I'm getting it, you'll have to bear with me, I'm finding it somewhat difficult to figure out the difference between torque and horsepower. Is the only difference that torque gets you going, and horsepower keeps you going, or what? That explanation doesn't seem like it to me.. Anyone?

 

Newton's law of intertia states that a body in motion will tend to stay in motion and a body at rest will tend to stay at rest. More torque is needed to move a still object simply to overcome the inertia. This is why a car's 0-30 times will be slower than it's 30-60 times, also why your 1/8 mile times will be the majority of your 1/4 mile times.

HorsePower is what you get when you factor in time with your torque. It's the total combonation of force, distance, and time.

I forget the example, but it takes one horsepower to move a certain ammount of weight up a certain distance. They aren't round 10 or 100 type numbers because Horsepower is American measurement, hence I can not remember the figures.

 

Here's a link that should help.... (don't be scared away by the equations)

http://www.theuspits.com/files/race/06-Speed.html

 

Okay, lets see if this helps:
Torque - foot-pounds, a force acting over a distance, used to rotate somthing.
Horsepower - 550 foot-pounds per second, a force acting over a distance in a given amount of time.

Read these two, nice and simple. Helped me understand it, and let me know if you still have questions:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/fpte3.htm
http://www.howstuffworks.com/horsepower.htm
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question622.htm

Hope this helps,
-Spencer

 

You know, that little torque meter never shows how much engine power is used to compress the incoming mixture. Diesels spend lots of power compressing AF mixtures.

 

Yeah, it's a bit simple Jeff, but it gets the point across.

 

If you're pulling on a wrench, torque is how hard you have to pull to make the bolt turn. Horsepower is how quickly you are able to make it turn. Horsepower is derived from torque and (rotational) speed.

Kerry