A young "drawer" pulling a coal tub up a mine shaft, whose "effect" constitutes the "elevation of a weight to a certain height" (Sadi Carnot). In the Physical sciences weight is a Measurement of the gravitational Force acting on an object Height is the measurement of vertical Distance, but has two meanings in common use

In thermodynamics, motive power is an agency, as water or steam, used to impart motion. In Physics, thermodynamics (from the Greek θερμη therme meaning " Heat " and δυναμις dynamis meaning " Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. Uses A Steam engine uses the expansion of steam in order to drive a Piston or Turbine to perform Mechanical work. In Physics, motion means a constant change in the location of a body Generally, motive power is defined as a natural agent, as water, steam, wind, electricity, etc. , used to impart motion to machinery; a motor; a mover. A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity The term may also define something, as a locomotive or a motor, which provides motive power to a system. A locomotive is a railway Vehicle that provides the motive power for a Train. In current use, motive power may be thought of as a synonym for either "work", i. In Physics, mechanical work is the amount of Energy transferred by a Force. e. force times distance, or "power", an effect producing motion, dependending on the context of the discussion. In Physics, power (symbol P) is the rate at which work is performed or energy is transmitted or the amount of energy required or expended for

History

In 1679 physicist Denis Papin conceived the idea of using steam to power a piston and cylinder engine, by watching a steam release valve of a bone-digester rhythmically move up and down. Denis Papin ( 22 August 1647 - c 1712 was a French Physicist, Mathematician and Inventor, best known for his pioneering A steam engine is a Heat engine that performs Mechanical work using Steam as its Working fluid. In 1698, based on Papin’s designs, mechanical designer Thomas Savery build the first engine. Thomas Savery (c 1650 - 1715 was an English Inventor, born at Shilstone a Manor house near Modbury, Devon, England. The first scientific treatise on the energetics of engines was the 1824 paper: Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire written by French physicist Sadi Carnot. Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1 June 1796 &ndash 24 August 1832 was a French Physicist and Military engineer who in his 1824 Reflections

As an example, the Newcomen engine of 1711 was able to replace a team of 500 horses that had “powered” a wheel to pump water out of out a mine, i. The atmospheric engine invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 today referred to as a Newcomen steam engine (or simply Newcomen engine was the first practical e. to “move” buckets of water vertically out of mine. Hence, we have precursory model to the term motive power. Based on this model, in 1832, Carnot defined work as “weight lifted through a height”, being the very same definition used to this day.

1824 definition

Carnot states, in the footnotes to his famous 1824 publication, “We use here the expression motive power to express the useful effect that a motor is capable of producing. This effect can always be likened to the elevation of a weight to a certain height. It has, as we know, as a measure, the product of the weight multiplied by the height to which it is raised. ”

In this manner, Carnot is actually referring to "motive power" in the same manner we currently define "work". In Physics, mechanical work is the amount of Energy transferred by a Force. If we were to include a unit of time in Carnot's definition, we would then have the modern-day definition for power:

Thus Carnot's definition of motive power is not consistent with the modern physics definition of "power", nor the modern usage of the term.

1834 definition

In 1834, the French mining engineer Emile Clapeyron refers to Carnot’s motive power as “mechanical action”. Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron (26 February 1799 - 28 January 1864 was a French Engineer and Physicist, one of the founders of Thermodynamics As an example, during the expansion stroke of a piston engine he states that: “the gas will have developed a quantity of mechanical action during its expansion given by the integral of the product of the pressure times the differential of the volume. ” Clapeyron then goes on to use graphical methods to show how this "mechanical action", i. e. work in modern terms, could be calculated.

See also

• Locomotive
• Motive power depot
• Power (physics)
• Thermodynamics