Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Internal combustion engines date back to between the 10th and 13th centuries, when the first rocket engines were invented in China. Following the first commercial steam engine (a type of external combustion engine) by Thomas Savery in 1698, various efforts were made during the 18th century to develop equivalent internal combustion engines.
1816 – Robert Stirling invented his hot air Stirling engine, and what we now call a "regenerator". [5] [6] 1821 – Michael Faraday builds an electricity-powered motor. 1824 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot first publishes that the efficiency of a heat engine depends on the temperature difference between an engine and its environment.
The World's Work: A History of Our Time. Vol. XIII. pp. 8163–8178 Includes photos of many c. 1906 special purpose automobiles. "New England in Motor History; 1890 to 1916". The Automobile Journal. 41: 9. 25 February 1916. Norman, Henry (April 1902). "The Coming of the Automobile". The World's Work: A History of Our Time. Vol.
Further improvements in engine efficiency were attempted at higher compression ratios, but early attempts were blocked by the premature explosion of fuel, known as knocking. In 1891, the Shukhov cracking process became the world's first commercial method to break down heavier hydrocarbons in crude oil to increase the percentage of lighter ...
Developed for Charles Porter by Charles Richard, the steam engine indicator traces on paper the pressure in the cylinder throughout the cycle, which can be used to spot various problems and to optimize efficiency. [14] [19] Earlier versions of the steam engine indicator were in use by 1851, though relatively unknown. [20]
c. 50 AD – Hero of Alexandria's Engine, also known as Aeolipile. Demonstrates rotary motion produced by the reaction from jets of steam. [2] c. 10th century – China develops the earliest fire lances which were spear-like weapons combining a bamboo tube containing gunpowder and shrapnel like projectiles tied to a spear.
The ziggurats of Mesopotamia, the pyramids and Pharos of Alexandria in ancient Egypt, cities of the Indus Valley civilization, the Acropolis and Parthenon in ancient Greece, the aqueducts, Via Appia and Colosseum in the Roman Empire, Teotihuacán, the cities and pyramids of the Mayan, Inca and Aztec Empires, and the Great Wall of China, among many others, stand as a testament to the ingenuity ...
Over 100 Newcomen engines were installed around England by 1735, and it is estimated that as many as 2,000 were in operation by 1800 (including Watt versions). John Smeaton made numerous improvements to the Newcomen engine, notably the seals, and by improving these was able to almost triple their efficiency. He also preferred to use wheels ...