What are Watts?

Watts are units of power that we regularly use to measure electricity. For example, light bulbs are usually given wattage ratings. The Watt itself, as a unit of measurement, is a derived unit of power. It is included in the international system of units, which means it is used abroad as well as in the United States and the UK. 

It is actually named after a man called James Watt, who was a Scottish engineer back in the eighteenth century.  He made many worthwhile contributions to history, including contributions to the building of the steam engine. The Watt was officially adopted for international use in the International system of units in 1960, making it a unit that has actually been around for awhile.

The official sign of the Watt is a “W”. This unit technically measures the rate of energy conversion. Everything can be measured in watts (and can usually be converted from watts to amps). For example, a person walking up a flight of stairs is estimated to equal 200 watts. A 'normal' automobile is putting out about 25,000 watts of energy. A coal powered power station produces around 700 megawatts! Watts are very universally used, and are one of the many ways that we measure power output.

There are also a lot of sub-measurements for the watt though. A Nanowatt is one billionth of a watt. A microwatt is one millionth, a milliwatt is one thousandth, a kilowatt is one thousand watts, a megawatt is one million, and a gig watt is equal to one billion watts. There is also a Terawatt, which is one trillion watts...and a Petawatt, which is equal to one quadrillion watts.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to measure watts, especially if they are in very small or very large amounts.