Engines CC Vs. HP
Cubic centimeters, denoted as "cc," and horsepower, denoted as "hp," are both measurements correlating to the power generated by an engine. Each measurement is calculated differently and has very different meanings.
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Cubic Centimeters
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A cubic centimeter is a measurement of quantity and, in reference to an engine, denotes the displacement inside a cylinder. In other words, it measures the total volume swept by the pistons inside all of the cylinders of an internal combustion engine. While it doesn't directly measure the power produced by an engine, the greater the volume typically denotes a greater power.
Horsepower
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Horsepower is a measurement of rate and, in reference to an engine, denotes an amount of work done over a certain period of time. For instance, one horsepower is the same as lifting 33,000 pounds one foot in the air over one minute of time. The larger the engine --- that is, the greater the engine displacement --- the higher the horsepower. The higher the horsepower, the greater power your engine can exert.
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Conversion
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While both horsepower and engine displacement oftentimes correlate with one another, that's not always the case. Two engines with the same engine displacement may generate different rates of horsepower. The type of valve or the use of a turbocharger are factors which can alter the horsepower. Thus, no single value can be used as a universal conversion rate to convert your engine's cubic centimeters to horsepower. However, one rule of thumb is that 15 cc to 17cc equals about 1 hp on modern cars.
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References
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- Photo Credit Horsepower 1 image by kingfisher from Fotolia.com
