Engines on IndustryNet

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The engine, or the motor, is basically a machine, which has been constructed with a purpose of transforming one form of energy into a different kind of energy, in this case, mechanical.There are various types of engines, heat engines, electric engines, pneumatic engines, and more.

• Heat engines

This type of engines includes internal combustion engines as well as external combustion engines. They use fuel for burning and creating heat, which is then used for the creation of a force.

• Electric motors

These engines, or motors, transform the electrical energy into mechanical energy.

• Pneumatic motors

These types of motors use compressed air to create motion.

• Other types

For example, clockwork motors you can find in clocks or in windup toys, use elastic energy to create motion. There are engines in biological systems as well, such as molecular motors, like muscles, which use chemical energy to generate force and create motion.


The word "engine" comes from the old French word “engine” and the Latin word “Ingenium”. The ancient war weapons such as catapults, battering rams, and trebuchets were known as "siege engines", and the ways of making such a weapon were kept as a military secret.Many of the devices that were made at the time of the industrial revolution were called engines, with the steam engine being the only engine by todays standards.


Nowadays, the word engine is used when talking about the devices that use fuel in order to generate force that creates mechanical motion. For example, engines that create torque, are petrol and diesel engines, while the ones that create thrust are called turbofans and rockets.


The term motor came when the first internal combustion engine was invented, in order to separate it from the steam engine, which was massively used then. The words "Motor" and "engine" today can be used when talking about the same device. But, these two words actually have different meanings.The “Engine” is a device that uses fuel, either by burning it or otherwise consuming it and changing its chemical composition, to create mechanical energy,while the “Motor” is a device that uses electrical energy, hydraulic pressure or air, without changing its chemical composition, to transform it into mechanical energy.


A component that changes the pressure or the flow a fluid, and turns it into mechanical energy, can also be used as a prime mover, and this is known as the heat engine.The cars use a combination of motors and pumps, but the main moving power comes from the internal combustion engine. Basically, it comes to this:a motor gets its power from an outside source, and then transforms that power into mechanical energy, while the engines get their power out of pressure that comes fromthe combustion or other chemical reaction, which is used to create mechanical power.

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