One famous limit of thermodynamics is that heat engines, like steam engines and internal combustion engines, must be less efficient than a Carnot heat engine (a heat engine cycle designed by French ...

The film discusses various types of engines that utilize heat energy for operation. It explains steam engines, which are reciprocating external combustion engines, and compares them to internal ...

Ever since the invention of water mills in antiquity, through the development of the steam engine in the 18th century, and up to today’s turbines, many power generators rely on the principle of ...

Scientists are working on a heat engine that consists of just a single ion. Such a nano-heat engine could be far more efficient than, for example, a car engine or a coal-fired power plant. Scientists ...

Power boost: a quantum heat engine in synthetic diamond. (Courtesy: Jonas Becker) Physicists have in recent years built a number of microscopic heat engines to investigate how the laws of ...