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A generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. [19] A hydroelectric powerplant converts the mechanical energy of water in a storage dam into electrical energy. [20] An internal combustion engine is a heat engine that obtains mechanical energy from chemical energy by burning fuel. From this mechanical energy, the internal ...
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power generation ), heat energy (e.g. geothermal ), chemical energy , electric potential and nuclear ...
simple machine A mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, a set of six classical simple machines identified by Renaissance scientists drawing from Greek texts on technology are collectively defined as the simplest mechanisms that can provide mechanical advantage (also called leverage). siphon
Energy conversion efficiency (η) is the ratio between the useful output of an energy conversion machine and the input, in energy terms. The input, as well as the useful output may be chemical , electric power , mechanical work , light (radiation), or heat .
Components of mechanical systems store elastic potential energy if they are deformed when forces are applied to the system. Energy is transferred to an object by work when an external force displaces or deforms the object. The quantity of energy transferred is the vector dot product of the force and the displacement of the object. As forces are ...
This creates a limit to the amount of heat energy that can do work in a cyclic process, a limit called the available energy. Mechanical and other forms of energy can be transformed in the other direction into thermal energy without such limitations. [14] The total energy of a system can be calculated by adding up all forms of energy in the system.
The complete dynamic theory of simple machines was worked out by Italian scientist Galileo Galilei in 1600 in Le Meccaniche (On Mechanics), in which he showed the underlying mathematical similarity of the machines as force amplifiers. [17] [18] He was the first to explain that simple machines do not create energy, only transform it. [17]
For a stretched spring fixed at one end obeying Hooke's law, the elastic potential energy is Δ E p = 1 2 k ( r 2 − r 1 ) 2 {\displaystyle \Delta E_{p}={\frac {1}{2}}k(r_{2}-r_{1})^{2}} where r 2 and r 1 are collinear coordinates of the free end of the spring, in the direction of the extension/compression, and k is the spring constant.