This deep dive covers Power Units and Typical Values within Power for GCSE Physics. Revise Power in Energy for GCSE Physics with 14 exam-style questions and 25 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 3 of 12 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 3 of 12
Practice
14 questions
Recall
25 flashcards
🔌 Power Units and Typical Values
In everyday life, power is often measured in kilowatts (kW) because watts are too small for most appliances. In engineering and power generation, megawatts (MW) and gigawatts (GW) are used.
| Unit | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Watt | W | 1 J/s |
| Kilowatt | kW | 1,000 W |
| Megawatt | MW | 1,000,000 W |
| Gigawatt | GW | 1,000,000,000 W |
Typical power values:
- Phone charger: ~5 W
- LED bulb: ~10 W
- Laptop: ~50 W
- Human resting: ~80 W
- Human sprinting: ~2,000 W (2 kW)
- Kettle: ~3,000 W (3 kW)
- Car engine: ~75,000 W (75 kW)
- Power station: ~1,000,000,000 W (1 GW)