In electric circuits, the watt is an approximation of the amount of power consumed by a device. It measures a device’s power consumption per unit of time. An amp, on the other hand, is the amount of current a device needs to provide the necessary amount of power for its intended purpose. This can be measured in units of amperes.
Measuring Amps and Watts
In electric circuits, watts and amps are used to measure the power consumption of electrical devices. However, you may be required to measure the number of amps or watts in an electrical circuit. To measure amps, you require an ammeter. It’s a device that you connect in a series of circuits to measure the flow.
While measuring amps is easy, it’s more complex to measure watts. To measure watts, you need to measure the amps flowing into the circuit and multiply the amperage by the voltage. For example, a device that is drawing 3 amps from a 12-volt source is consuming 36 watts,while a device pulling 3 amps from a 24-volt source is consuming 72 watts.
You can also use a wattmeter to measure watts. Wattmeters connect to the circuit and allow you to measure the wattage. This is especially useful for testing electrical devices that draw more power than they are producing.
Where to Use Amps and Watts
The basic building block of electric power is volts and amps. You can use amps to measure the voltage in a circuit. However, watts can be used to describe other types of energy. For example, it’s known that 1 horsepower is equal to around 746 watts. Knowing this, you could describe a 2-horsepower engine as an engine that has 1492 watts of power output.
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