An engine (or motor) is a machine A machine is a device that uses energy to perform some activity. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work. A simple machine is a device that transforms the direction or magnitude of a force without consuming any energy. The word "machine" is derived from the Latin designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion In physics, motion is change of location or position of an object with respect to time. Change in motion is the result of an applied force. Motion is typically described in terms of velocity also seen as speed, acceleration, displacement, and time. An object's velocity cannot change unless it is acted upon by a force, as described by Newton's.
Engines come in many types, a common type is a heat engine A heat engine is a physical device that converts thermal energy to mechanical output. The mechanical output is called work, and the thermal energy input is called heat. Heat engines typically run on a specific thermodynamic cycle. Heat engines can be open to the atmospheric air or sealed and closed off to the outside such as an internal combustion engine The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases, which are produced by the combustion, directly applies force to a movable component of the engine, such as the which typically burns a fuel with air and uses the hot gases for generating power. External combustion engines An external combustion engine is a heat engine where an (internal) working fluid is heated by combustion of an external source, through the engine wall or a heat exchanger. The fluid then, by expanding and acting on the mechanism of the engine produces motion and usable work. The fluid is then cooled, compressed and reused (closed cycle), or (less such as steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid use heat to generate motion via a separate working fluid.
Another common type is the electric motor An electric motor uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy, very typically through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors. The reverse process, producing electrical energy from mechanical energy, is accomplished by a generator or dynamo. Many types of electric motors can be run as generators, and vice versa. This takes electrical energy and generates mechanical motion via varying electromagnetic fields The electromagnetic field is a physical field produced by electrically charged objects. It affects the behavior of charged objects in the vicinity of the field. The electromagnetic field extends indefinitely throughout space and describes the electromagnetic interaction. It is one of the four fundamental forces of nature (the others are.
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Terminology
Originally an engine was a mechanical device that converted force into motion. Military devices such as catapults A catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during warfare. The word 'Catapult' comes from the two, trebuchets A trebuchet or trebucket is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of a and battering rams A battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient times to break open fortification walls or doors are referred to as siege engines A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and tended to use mechanical advantage to fling stones. The term "gin" as in cotton gin A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates the cotton fibers from the seeds, a job previously done by hand. These seeds are then used to grow more cotton, produce cottonseed oil, or, if badly damaged, are disposed of. It uses a combination of a wire screen and small wire hooks to pull the cotton through the screen, while brushes is recognised as a short form of the Old French Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century. It is a direct descendent of Old Gallo-Romance. It was then known as the langue d'oïl to distinguish it from the langue d'oc (Occitan language, word engin, in turn from the Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native speakers, a small number of scholars can fluently speak it and it continues to be taught in schools and universities and has been, and currently is, used in the process of ingenium, related to ingenious. Most devices used in the industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions starting in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The were referred to as engines, and this is where the steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid gained its name.[citation needed]
In modern usage, the term is used to describe devices capable of performing mechanical work In physics, mechanical work is the amount of energy transferred by a force acting through a distance. Like energy, it is a scalar quantity, with SI units of joules. The term work was first coined in 1826 by the French mathematician Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis, as in the original steam engine. In most cases the work is produced by exerting a torque Torque, also called moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist or linear force, which is used to operate other machinery which can generate electricity Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts, such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction, pump A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into five major groups: direct lift, displacement, velocity, buoyancy and gravity pumps. Their names describe the method for moving a fluid water, or compress gas A gas compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. In the context of propulsion systems, an air-breathing engine is one that uses atmospheric air to oxidise the fuel Fuel is any material that can be used to generate energy to produce mechanical work in a controlled manner. The processes used to convert fuel into energy include chemical reactions, such as combustion, and nuclear reactions, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. Fuels are also used in the cells of organisms in a process known as metabolism carried rather than supplying an independent oxidizer, as in a rocket A rocket or rocket vehicle is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction. Rocket engines push rockets forwards simply by throwing their exhaust backwards.
In common usage, an engine burns Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame. Fuels of interest often include organic compounds in the gas, liquid or or otherwise consumes fuel Fuel is any material that can be used to generate energy to produce mechanical work in a controlled manner. The processes used to convert fuel into energy include chemical reactions, such as combustion, and nuclear reactions, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. Fuels are also used in the cells of organisms in a process known as metabolism, and is differentiated from an electric machine (i.e., electric motor An electric motor uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy, very typically through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors. The reverse process, producing electrical energy from mechanical energy, is accomplished by a generator or dynamo. Many types of electric motors can be run as generators, and vice versa) that derives power without changing the composition of matter.[1] A heat engine may also serve as a prime mover, a component that transforms the flow or changes in pressure of a fluid Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest, and fluid dynamics, the study of fluids in motion. It is a branch of continuum mechanics, a subject which models matter without using the information that it is made out of atoms. Fluid mechanics, into mechanical energy In physics, mechanical energy describes the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy present in the components of a mechanical system. Mechanical energy is the energy associated with the motion or position of an object.[2] An automobile An automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the powered by an internal combustion engine The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases, which are produced by the combustion, directly applies force to a movable component of the engine, such as the may make use of various motors and pumps, but ultimately all such devices derive their power from the engine.
The term motor was originally used to distinguish the new internal combustion engine The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases, which are produced by the combustion, directly applies force to a movable component of the engine, such as the-powered vehicles from earlier vehicles powered by steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid, such as the steam roller A steamroller is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for levelling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The levelling/flattening action is achieved through a combination of the size and weight of the vehicle and the rolls: the smooth wheels and the large cylinder or drum and motor roller A road roller is a compactor type engineering vehicle used to compact soil, gravel, concrete, or asphalt in the construction of roads and foundations, but may be used to refer to any engine.[citation needed]
History of engines
Antiquity
Simple machines A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage to multiply force. A simple machine uses a single applied force to do work against a single load force. Ignoring friction losses, the work done on the load is equal to, such as the club A mace is a simple weapon or ceremonial club or virge that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful blows. A development of the club, a mace differs from a hammer in that the head of a mace is radially symmetric so that a blow can be delivered equally effectively with any side of the head. A mace consists of a strong, heavy and oar An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles are that paddles are held by the paddler, and are not connected with the vessel. Oars generally are connected to the vessel by means of rowlocks or tholes which transmit the (examples of the lever In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to multiply the mechanical force (effort) that can be applied to another object (load). This leverage is also termed mechanical advantage, and is one example of the principle of moments. A lever is one of the six simple machines), are prehistoric Prehistory is a term used to describe the period before recorded history. Paul Tournal originally coined the term Pré-historique in describing the finds he had made in the caves of southern France.[citation needed] It came into use in France in the 1830s to describe the time before writing, and the word "prehistoric" was introduced into. More complex engines using human power Manual labour is physical work done with the hands, especially in an unskilled job such as fruit and vegetable picking, road building, or any other field where the work may be considered physically arduous, and which has as a profitable objective, usually the production of goods, animal power A working animal is an animal that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. They may be close members of the family, such as guide dogs, or semi-domesticated animals such as logging elephants. They may also be used for milk, or at the end of their lives for meat or other products such as leather, water power A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. the development of hydropower. In the Middle Ages, waterwheels were used as tools to power factories throughout different countries. The alternatives were the windmill and human and animal power. The most common use of the water wheel, wind power A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational motion by means of adjustable vanes called sails. The main use is for a grinding mill powered by the wind, reducing a solid or coarse substance into pulp or minute grains, by crushing, grinding, or pressing. Windmills have also provided energy to sawmills, paper mills, and even steam power A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid date back to antiquity. Human power was focused by the use of simple engines, such as the capstan The word, connected with the Old French capestan or cabestan, from Old Provençal cabestan, from capestre "pulley cord,", from Latin capistrum, -a halter, from capere, to take hold of, seems to have come into English (14th century) from Portuguese or Spanish shipmen at the time of the Crusades. Both device and word are considered Spanish, windlass A windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder , which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound around the winch, pulling a weight attached to the opposite end or treadmill A treadwheel is a form of animal engine typically powered by humans. It may resemble a water wheel in appearance, and can be worked either by a human treading paddles set into its circumference , or by a human or animal standing inside it (treadwheel), and with ropes A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength . Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly constructed cord, line, string, and twine, pulleys A pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present. Pulleys are used to change the direction of an applied force, transmit rotational motion,, and block and tackle arrangements; this power was transmitted usually with the forces multiplied and the speed reduced. These were used in cranes and aboard ships in Ancient Greece, as well as in mines, water pumps and siege engines in Ancient Rome. The writers of those times, including Vitruvius, Frontinus and Pliny the Elder, treat these engines as commonplace, so their invention may be far more ancient. By the 1st century AD, various breeds of cattle and horses were used in mills, driving machines similar to those powered by humans in earlier times.
According to Strabo, a water powered mill was built in Kaberia of the kingdom of Mithridates during the 1st century BC. Use of water wheels in mills spread throughout the Roman Empire over the next few centuries. Some were quite complex, with aqueducts, dams, and sluices to maintain and channel the water, along with systems of gears, or toothed-wheels made of wood and metal to regulate the speed of rotation. In a poem by Ausonius in the 4th century, he mentions a stone-cutting saw powered by water. Hero of Alexandria is credited with many such wind and steam powered machines in the 1st century AD, including the Aeolipile, but it is not known if any of these were put to practical use.
Medieval
During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution from the 9th to 13th centuries, Muslim engineers developed numerous innovative industrial uses of hydropower, early industrial uses of tidal power, wind power, and fossil fuels such as petroleum, together with the earliest large factory complexes (tiraz in Arabic).[3] The industrial uses of watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, whereas horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. A variety of industrial mills were invented in the Islamic world, including fulling mills, hullers, steel mills, sugar refineries, and windmills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation, from the Middle East and Central Asia to al-Andalus and North Africa.[4]
Roman engineers invented water turbines in the 4th century AD, Muslim engineers employed gears in mills and water-raising machines, and pioneered the use of dams as a source of water power to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.[5] Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by manual labour to be mechanized and driven by machinery to some extent in the medieval Islamic world.
In 1206, al-Jazari employed a crank-connecting rod system for two of his water-raising machines. A similar steam turbine later appeared in Europe a century later, which eventually led to the steam engine and Industrial Revolution in 18th century Europe.[6]
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Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:16:55 GMT+00:00
The Virginian-Pilot A single- engine aircraft made an emergency landing on a baseball field at Cape Henry Collegiate School, authorities said. ... Small plane crashes in Virginia Beach WAVY-TV Plane makes crash landing in Virginia Beach Daily Press Small plane makes emergency landing on Beach baseball field The Virginian-Pilot
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You might even be interested in grabbing that picture of the engine as an iPhone or iPod touch background
Tue, 06 May 2008 20:56:44 PDT
This animation provides a basic understanding of how the Rotary Engine is put together and how it works. Music taken from the Ford piston engine ... youtube.com.
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Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:45:40 GM
The check . engine. light keeps coming on in my 06 Chevy HHR. I tried tightening the gas cap, did a gas treatment, got better gas, etc. What else could it be?
