Machine

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Wind turbines

A "machine" is any device that uses energy to perform some activity. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work. A simple machine is a device that transforms the direction or magnitude of a force without consuming any energy. The word "machine" is derived from the Latin machina.^[1]

Usage

Machines are ubiquitous in a wide variety of industrial, commercial, residential and transportation applications. Those employing hydraulics are especially useful in manufacturing, construction and earthmoving.

"Engines" are machines that convert heat or other forms of energy into mechanical energy. Internal combustion engines for example use the expansion of gas caused by heat from an exothermic chemical reaction.

Historically, a device required moving parts to be classified as a machine, however the advent of electronics technology has led to the development of devices without moving parts that some consider machines, the computer being the most obvious example.^[1]

Types of machines and other devices

Machines in Education and Art

• Gunderson Do-All Machine - an interconnected network of dozens of machines that have been cross-sectioned to reveal their internal operating mechanisms. This artistically presented engineering marvel was designed by to serve as a mechanical tutorial for young and old alike.

Notes

References

1. Oberg, Erik; Franklin D. Jones, Holbrook L. Horton, and Henry H. Ryffel (2000). in ed. Christopher J. McCauley, Riccardo Heald, and Muhammed Iqbal Hussain: Machinery's Handbook, 26th edition, New York: Industrial Press Inc.. ISBN 0-8311-2635-3.