Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

497 results found

phlogiston theory

(Encyclopedia)phlogiston theory flōjĭsˈtŏn [key], hypothesis regarding combustion. The theory, advanced by J. J. Becher late in the 17th cent. and extended and popularized by G. E. Stahl, postulates that in all...

gasoline engine

(Encyclopedia)gasoline engine: see internal-combustion engine. ...

catalytic converter

(Encyclopedia)catalytic converter: see internal-combustion engine. ...

Wankel engine

(Encyclopedia)Wankel engine: see internal-combustion engine. ...

diesel engine

(Encyclopedia)diesel engine, type of internal-combustion engine invented by the German engineer Rudolf Diesel and patented by him in 1892. Although his engine was designed to use coal dust as fuel, the diesel engin...

enthalpy

(Encyclopedia)enthalpy ĕnˈthălpē [key], measure of the heat content of a chemical or physical system; it is a quantity derived from the heat and work relations studied in thermodynamics. As a system changes fro...

thermoelectricity

(Encyclopedia)thermoelectricity, direct conversion of heat into electric energy, or vice versa. The term is generally restricted to the irreversible conversion of electricity into heat described by the English phys...

air conditioning

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Cross section of air conditioning unit. air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air i...

Carnot, Nicolas Léonard Sadi

(Encyclopedia)Carnot, Nicolas Léonard Sadi kärnōˈ [key], 1796–1832, French physicist, a founder of modern thermodynamics; son of Lazare N. M. Carnot. His famous work on the motive power of heat (Réflexions ...

fuel injection

(Encyclopedia)fuel injection, system in an internal-combustion engine that delivers fuel or a fuel-air mixture to the cylinders by means of pressure from a pump. It was originally used in diesel engines because of ...