Watt-Hours Usage

[Flashlight237]

Something crossed my mind recently. So, watt-hours is a unit of energy rather than a unit of power like the watt (which is a joule per second). Thing is, well, I dunno how the watt-hour should be handled. So, here's the article on the unit for reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt-hour

Like, for example, let's say you have a computer. Some sources put a computer's energy usage in watts (50 watts in this site for example: https://news.energysage.com/how-many-watts-does-a-computer-use/ ), while others list a computer's energy usage in watt-hours (one source that seems to be down set a computer's energy usage at 200 watt-hours, or 720,000 joules).

In other words, powering a computer can either be small stuff (50 watts to 500 watts depending on the usage and the power supply; Below Average Human+ to Street Level) or outright busted (Wall level). When should the energy unit of watt-hour be used and when should it not be?

A sudden jolt of electricity that's worth 720,000 joules can power a computer for a whole hour, and yet so does a flat 200 watts (joules per second) sustained over an exact hour, so I figured it'd be best to try and clarify things.

 

[Greenshifter]

The tiering system is basically in watts, we just call it joules cause it’s easier

 

[DontTalkDT]

The tiering system is basically in watts, we just call it joules cause it’s easier

? No it isn't. If a 500J attack is accomplished in 0.1s and hence has 5000W of power, we still rank it as 500J not 5000J.

Something crossed my mind recently. So, watt-hours is a unit of energy rather than a unit of power like the watt (which is a joule per second). Thing is, well, I dunno how the watt-hour should be handled. So, here's the article on the unit for reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt-hour

Like, for example, let's say you have a computer. Some sources put a computer's energy usage in watts (50 watts in this site for example: https://news.energysage.com/how-many-watts-does-a-computer-use/ ), while others list a computer's energy usage in watt-hours (one source that seems to be down set a computer's energy usage at 200 watt-hours, or 720,000 joules).

In other words, powering a computer can either be small stuff (50 watts to 500 watts depending on the usage and the power supply; Below Average Human+ to Street Level) or outright busted (Wall level). When should the energy unit of watt-hour be used and when should it not be?

A sudden jolt of electricity that's worth 720,000 joules can power a computer for a whole hour, and yet so does a flat 200 watts (joules per second) sustained over an exact hour, so I figured it'd be best to try and clarify things.

A watt-hour is defined as 3600 joules. So aside from having to convert it to joules, you use it identical to a joule value, because it ultimately is nothing but a joule value.

What the computer example is concerned: Unless they do something wrong nobody lists a computer's energy usage as watt-hours. That's simple the result of the amount of energy used obviously increasing over time, making a static energy unit like that unfitting. I suspect when such a number is listed it either means that it's the amount of watt-hours used each hour (which is then just a strange conversion of watt) or it's like the electricity bill and it's just how much energy was used in total over whichever timeframe the PC was used (your electricity bill doesn't care if you used 100 watt over 2 hours or 200 watt over 1 hour).

In the latter case, the usual considerations regarding attacks that take an extended timeframe apply just as for joule.

 

[ElajRuengies]

Something crossed my mind recently. So, watt-hours is a unit of energy rather than a unit of power like the watt (which is a joule per second). Thing is, well, I dunno how the watt-hour should be handled. So, here's the article on the unit for reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt-hour

Like, for example, let's say you have a computer. Some sources put a computer's energy usage in watts (50 watts in this site for example: https://news.energysage.com/how-many-watts-does-a-computer-use/ ), while others list a computer's energy usage in watt-hours (one source that seems to be down set a computer's energy usage at 200 watt-hours, or 720,000 joules).

In other words, powering a computer can either be small stuff (50 watts to 500 watts depending on the usage and the power supply; Below Average Human+ to Street Level) or outright busted (Wall level). When should the energy unit of watt-hour be used and when should it not be?

A sudden jolt of electricity that's worth 720,000 joules can power a computer for a whole hour, and yet so does a flat 200 watts (joules per second) sustained over an exact hour, so I figured it'd be best to try and clarify things.

Watts is usually directly used since character's are usually tiered by amount of energy they can use in each attack rather than their total energy stored (unless they have like a self destruct or something), and 1 second is a convenient timeframe.

Of course, you can't always assume that the wattage is extended across a whole second, but it's an okay rule of thumb usually. (MCU Iron Man's N-petawatt lasers being City level is an example, which works since they're used in pulses for around a second)

 

[Greenshifter]

? No it isn't. If a 500J attack is accomplished in 0.1s and hence has 5000W of power, we still rank it as 500J not 5000J.

I was more talking about stuff like MCU Iron Man. I remember doing a calc where I used the length of a beam after 1 second to determine its AP.