WATT

A watt is the term used to describe a unit of power. It is named after James Watt (1736-1819), the inventor of the first practical steam engine. The definition of the watt is based on the definition of power —the rate at which work is done. Although power was used in mechanical engineering long be­fore electricity was heard of, the use of the watt as an electrical term is now universally accepted.

Electric power may be a thousand kilowatts for an electric locomotive, a hundred watts for a light bulb, or only the very minute fraction of one watt which a radio receiver picks out of the air.