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Engine/Motor

Old Feb 4, 2005 | 05:52 PM
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Engine/Motor

Anybody got a simple explination of the difference in a Motor and an Engine?
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 06:00 PM
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Good question. I've heard of vehicles as having a motor or an engine, but I've never heard of an electric engine. 'Engine' seems to be reserved for fuel burning power plants, motor seems to be both. My dictionary says an engine converts heat energy into motion; a motor is basically the same. I'm sure there is a technical difference; I'll just wait til someone here comes up with it!
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 06:22 PM
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We had this out in tech school.
Ever had an Enginecycle or was that a motorcycle.
Several of the teachers said either was right.
I learned early not to mess with education, and I don't have any!
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 06:27 PM
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As far as I know it is a combustion engine. Anything that runs under combustion. I have been told then that a motor is electric not combustable.....
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 06:41 PM
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My guess would also be that an engine is either internal combustion or steam due to a controlled expansion of gases -explosion-, and motor is well, not. So I guess a diesel train locomotive has both; an internal combustion diesel engine to power the generator that powers the batteries that power the electric motors. Good question, oldmaninva.
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 07:15 PM
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Well I was always taught it is an electric motor, and a gas engine (or steam engine if that is your choice) although most people call an engine a motor.
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 07:24 PM
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Ford Motor Company.

I'm pretty sure the "Motor" part of the name refers to the internal combustion "engine" that is such a major part of the product that Ford has always been known for. So I don't think a distinction between the two labels holds up very well, at least not in the land of Big Blue....
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 07:35 PM
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Hey, check this site on animated engines.
Found it awhile ago. It's kinda cool.
Especially the Gnome Engine, where the
crankshaft is fixed to the plane and the
pistons and cylinder rotate around the
crank. Just the opposite of our standard
engines. Go figure.

www.keveney.com/Engines.html
 

Last edited by sierraben; Feb 4, 2005 at 07:40 PM.
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 08:17 PM
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Here is an abreviated definition of each:

An engine is a machine that converts energy into mechanical force or motion. An engine is a machine distinguished from an electric, spring-driven, or hydraulic motor by its use of a fuel.

A motor is something, such as a machine or an engine, that produces or imparts motion. It's a device that converts any form of energy into mechanical energy, especially an internal-combustion engine or an arrangement of coils and magnets that converts electric current into mechanical power.

Now I'm confusing myself.......
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 08:39 PM
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My aunt and uncle and dad(all engineers) say:
engine=combustion involved
motor=other(such as electic)

BTW, sorry if this has been said
 
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Old Feb 4, 2005 | 08:47 PM
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O.K., here we go: Mr.Webster: motor (n), A moving power; force or agency that sets machinery in motion; a motor car-(a) adjective- imparting motion


Engine-(n);Any instrument in some degree complicated, a machine to drive machinery, to propel vessels, railway trains etc,


I would say you have an engine under your hood, or maybe a motor!!
 
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Old Feb 5, 2005 | 08:05 AM
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I'm old enough to remember when hotrodders called it a 'mill'!
 
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Old Feb 5, 2005 | 11:56 AM
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This is one of my favourite topics so let me add these threads from 2003.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=151671

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=119879
 
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Old Feb 6, 2005 | 12:44 AM
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A motor is a generic term for something that puts an object in motion. One of these things being an engine, which I consider anything that converts combustion energy into motion.
 
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Old Feb 6, 2005 | 02:04 AM
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Interesting, I always call it an engine, and anything else like electric is considered a motor. I usually only call it an engine if it is powered by some sort of fuel

BTW sierraben, that's a pretty cool site, I'll have to remember that one, got some good illustrations on it.
 
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