Emil Payne, age 15, of Bessemer, Ala., for his question:    

WHAT IS A FOOT POUND?

Foot pound is the unit used to measure energy and work in the customary system of measurement. Energy is the ability to do work. Work is the overcoming of resistance.

Physicists also define work as the action of force through distance. A force must be exerted to overcome a resistance, such as weight. When the force is exerted through a distance, work is done.

Here is an example: When a one pound weight is lifted straight up through a distance of one foot, one foot pound of work is done. The type of path that the weight follows in gaining a height of one foot does not matter. If the final vertical distance the weight has passed is one foot, the amount of work done is one foot pound.

When a force of one pound is exerted in order to move an object along a horizontal surface, one foot pound of work is done for every foot the object is moved.

If a machine is capable of doing 33,000 foot pounds of work in one minute, the machine has a rating of one horsepower.