watt second
- noun
- /wɑt ˈsɛkənd/
- Specialized
:
vatio-segundo
- To achieve the desired brightness, each light in the setup emitted 250 watt seconds when fired.
Examples
-
Five Speedotron 102 light units, powered by a 2400 watt second power pack, were used to design the light seen in the photographs accompanying this article.
Academic text (2003) -
All photographs were taken with four strobes working out of a Photogenic Flash-Master power pak, each light putting out 50 watt-seconds of light.
Academic text (1994) -
The photographer used a flash that produced 100 watt seconds of energy to illuminate the scene.
-
The event required a total of 500 watt seconds to ensure all areas were well-lit throughout the evening.
Synonyms
11
7.2
A unit for measuring energy equal to one newton moving an object one metre
The symbol for the unit of energy called the joule
How Much Energy
- Specialized
1
5.1
- Specialized
8
3.2
- Specialized
1
4.2
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term is a literal composition of 'watt' (power) and 'second' (time), directly yielding the concept of energy = power × time (i.e. the energy delivered by one watt for one second, equivalent to one joule). Unit-formation like this is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Watt second shows a simple picture: it is one watt of power used for one second, like a tiny bit of energy from a lamp in a single second. So it just means 'one joule' or a small unit of electrical energy.