Engine in thrust. Particularly notable kinds of engines include: Engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one form of energy into mechanical energy. Heat engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to do work. Internal combustion engines are heat engines that burn fuel in a combustion chamber to extract work from the pressure of expanding gases. Electric motors convert electrical energy into mechanical motion; pneumatic motors use compressed air; and clockwork motors in wind-up toys use elastic energy. In biological systems, molecular motors, like myosins in muscles, use chemical energy to create forces
Wax motor Wax motor A wax motor is a linear actuator device that converts thermal energy into mechanical energy by exploiting the phase-change behaviour of waxes. During melting, wax typically expands in volume by 5% to 20% . A wide range of waxes can be used in wax motors, ranging from highly refined hydrocarbons to waxes extracted from vegetable matter. Specific examples include paraffin waxes in the straight-chain n-alkanes series. These melt and solidify over a well-defined and narrow temperature range. The principal components of a wax motor are: When the heat source is energized, the wax block is heated and it