page_title: Power (physics)
section_title: Peak power and duty cycle
hierarchical_section_title: Power (physics) / Peak power and duty cycle
caption_attribution_description: English: Plot of the instantaneous power p(t) of periodic signal of period T. The peak power and average power are also shown. &#x03C4; {\displaystyle \tau } is the pulse width (see Power (physics) for a definition). This &#32;diagram&#32;was created with MATLAB.
context_page_description: In physics, power is the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time. In the International System of Units, the unit of power is the watt, equal to one joule per second. In older works, power is sometimes called activity. Power is a scalar quantity.
  The output power of a motor is the product of the torque that the motor generates and the angular velocity of its output shaft. The power involved in moving a ground vehicle is the product of the traction force on the wheels and the velocity of the vehicle. The power of a jet-propelled vehicle is the product of the engine thrust and the velocity of the vehicle. The rate at which a light bulb converts electrical energy into light and heat is measured in watts—the electrical energy used per unit time.
context_section_description: In the case of a periodic signal  of period , like a train of identical pulses, the instantaneous power  is also a periodic function of period .  The peak power is simply defined by:
  The peak power is not always readily measurable, however, and the measurement of the average power  is more commonly performed by an instrument.  If one defines the energy per pulse as:
  then the average power is:
  One may define the pulse length  such that  so that the ratios
  are equal. These ratios are called the duty cycle of the pulse train.
caption: In a train of identical pulses, the instantaneous power is a periodic function of time. The ratio of the pulse duration to the period is equal to the ratio of the average power to the peak power. It is also called the duty cycle (see text for definitions).
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