I need to spec out an electric motor for use in a project. I understand the basic physics of motors, electricity, and power. But I have no mental picture of "how big" one horsepower or one foot pound are, so I have no idea what motor specs I need to look for.
The motor needs to rotate at ~30 RPM, be bidirectional, and be strong enough to rotate a small canister (6" dia by 12" long, filled with about 1.5 lb of water). The canister rotates freely on rollers.
Typically motors are selected based on the load the motor must drive. But in my case, there really isn't much in the way of a load per se, since my canister rotates freely. But the motor does need to be powerful enough to easily reverse the direction of rotation periodically. What kind of horsepower/wattage/torque would my motor need to produce?
Any thoughts?