Engines Car ,Ships and Aeroplane : Transport medium on Road, Water and Air.

ENGINES FOR TRANSPORT:

Engine Page in my Physics-World Software

It is almost impossible to imagine now how difficult it used to be to move about the country . Before the railways were developed in the 19th century , land transport depended entirely on the horse. Seas were crossed by sailing ships. The need for the horse and the sail were abolished by the invention of an efficient steam engine by James Watt.

INVENTION OF THE STEAM ENGINE:

James Watt

Watt was born in 1736, in Greenock, Scotland . At 17 years, he learnt to make mathematical instruments and had a job as mathematical instrument maker to glasgow University. One of the job they asked him to do was to repair a model of Newcomen`s steam engine. This rather inefficient engine was used to pump water out of the mines.

Watt`s Steam Engine

Watt improved on Newcomen`s design and then he completly alter it . His new engine only a third of the fuel that Newcomen`s engine required. Watt also made his engine capable of rotary movement, using a crank and gear wheels. By 1782 his engine was working up to 40 machines in a factory. This was the beginning of the industrial revolution when workers began to be replaced by machines.

The earliest steam engines were stationary. The first attempt to use them for transport was in 1786, when the American John Fitch built a steamship . By 1850 propeller driven steamships were regularly crossing the Atlantic. 

Steam Engine 

The first successful steam train was built by George Stephenson in 1814. This began the era of land travel by railway.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE:

The steam engine has a great disadvantage that it is neccessory to carry coal or wood around to make the fire. The search began for a lighter fuel and an engine in which to burn it. The result was the internal combustion engine. A gas version of this was made by the French-man Etienne Lenoir in 1860. The modern engine we use in our cars is based on the four-stroke engine , built by Nikolaus Otto in 1876. The cycle of strokes on which it works is called the Otto cycle.Modern car engines have 4, 6 or 8 cylinders. The more cylinders they have, the more smoothly the engines runs.

Modern Car Engine

The first practical petrol cars were built in Germany in 1885 by Gottleib Daimler and Carl Benz. In 1892 the German engineer Rudolf Diesel built an engine using oil as the fuel. This engine does not need sparking plugs.Instead, the explosion takes place when the oil is sprayed into the cylinder which contains highly compressed air, Diesel engines are used in buses, taxis, lorries, and some trains and boats.

Small petrol and Diesel engines are often two-stroke engines. In this type of internal-combustion engine there are no valves. The piston uncovers parts or holes in the cylinder wall as it moves up and down. Some motor cycles,cars,and lawn-mowers have two-strokes engines. You can recognize them by the "pop-pop" noise they make at each stroke.

OTTO-CYCLE:

Four Stroke Engine

The Otto-cycle On the first stroke the piston goes down and the inlet valve opens. Air and petrol vapour is sucked into the cylinder . On the second stroke piston rises compressing the mixture . The sparking plug fires and the mixture explodes.This pushes the piston down for the third strokes. On the fourth , the upward stroke, the exhaust valve open and the gases are pushed out . The cycle is then repeated over and over again.

                                                                                        3D animation showing 4-Stroke-Engine

Watt`s Steam engine: Steam from the boiler enters the cylinder through a valve and pushes the piston down. At the bottom of the stroke another valve opens and steam pushes the piston up .The up and down (resiprocating ) motion of the piston is converted to round and round (rotary) motion by a system of cranks and gears.

Diesel Locomotive

Electric Train.

The Diesel Locomotive is not as smooth as the electric train, but is cheaper to run because an electrified rail or overhead wire is not required.

CARS:

Car Page in my Physics-World Software

After Newcomen had invented the steam engine in 1712, attempt were made to harness this device to a cart in place of the horse. It was only with Watt`s improved engine that this became possible. The first successful power-driven cart was built in 1769 by Nicholas Cugnot. From then on , all over the world a great variety of extraordinary steam-powered vehicles were produced.

Horse Carriage of  Old Time

HORSELESS CARRIAGE:

The first practical steam vehicles, called "horseless carriages", were built in 1820. Good road had been built by Telford and McAdam for horse-drawn vehicles. The surfaces were ideal for steam carriages. The early vehicles resembled stahe coaches and carried goods and passengers in the same way. They travelled at about 30 mph. However in the 1865 Road Locomotives Act (called the Red Flag act) . The Government restricted their speed to 4 mph.This act slowed down car develoment in Britain very considerably.

Different Parts of Modern Car

In the 19th century , the trend was to developed light vehicles, which were easy to manoeuvre. One problem with a steam engine is that it requires a furnace of some sort of to raise steam. This means carrying large quantity of heavy and bulky coal. With the development of the oil industry , inflammable liquids such as petrol became available. These made it possible to do away with external combustion in engines. Internal-combustion engines were built , in which the petrol vapours explodes inside the cylinder.

The first successful gas engine was built by Etienne Lenoir in 1860. This inspired a German, Nikolaus Otto, to build a four stroke internal-combustion engine in 1876.

The world`s first practical petrol-driven cars were produced in 1885. In 1889 petrol cars were imported into into Britain and then speed limit was raised to 12 mph.

At the beginning of the twentieth century steam engine cars were still being produced. In 1906 the Stanley brothers in  America built the Stanley Rocket capable of travelling at 127 mph . However , steam cars were clumsy and expensive  to run and gradually disappeared.

                                                                                        3D Animation Showing Different Internal Parts of Car.

PETROL-DRIVEN CARS:

3D Models of Different Cars

                                                                                        3D animation showing Different Cars and Parts

Instead people concentrated on improving petrol-driven cars .

In 1907 Sir Henry Royce produced his first famous Silver Ghost

In 1907 Sir Henry Royce produced his first famous Silver Ghost. Between 1907 and 1930 car bodies became stronger and more stream-lined. Front suspesion was added and syncromesh gears were invented . Shock absorbers, windscreen wipers, and indicator become standard equipment  on every car . Major development since 1930 include the use of automatic gears and the invension of the Wankel engine.

ELECTRIC CARS:

The first electric cars appeared in 1891, made possible by Gaston`s Plant`s invention of  a storage battery. Though popular, they could only go short distances before the battery needed recharging. When petrol cars became self-starting , electric cars went out of favour . They are still used today for milk floats and other delivery vehicles. Interest in electric cars has revived because they donot pollute the air. It is hoped that new lighter types of batteries or fuel cells can be developed which will last as long as a full tank of petrol.

The first true automobile being driven in Vienna in 1950 on the 75th anniversary of its invention by Siegfried Marcus. Marcus invented the internal-combustion engine in 1864,

The petrol-driven car was invented by Siegfried Marcus In 1874. Though it could be driven under its own power it was heavy and clumsy .It was not a commercial success.

The 1911 Ford Model T

The 1911 Ford Model T was the most popular car made at the time. Between 1908 and 1927, fifteen million were sold.

WATER TRANSPORT:

Water Transport page in my Physics -World Software

The first people to travel by water probably used log as simple boats. They sat astride the log and used a piece of wood to paddle along. About 5000 years ago. The Egyptians began to build proper boats. Their first boats were made from bundles of reeds. Later they made stronger and bigger ships from short planks of wood. They learnt to use a sail so that the wind couldpush their ships along. They fixed a paddle near the black of the ship to steer it .In these ships, the ancient Egyptians made long journeys.

A roman gallery.These were among the earliest efficient sailing ships, and could also be rowed by tiers of slaves. Ships like this one were the warships of the roman Empire.

Different Water Vehicles

Clipper ships and steamships:

Over the years, ship design was improved. More masts and sails were added until the ships could move very fast .The fastest of all sailing ships was called the clipper.It was long and narrow and had three tall masts, with up to six sails on each mast. The cutty Sark, a famous clipper, sailed from Australia to England in 69 days. The usual time was 100 days.

3D Picture of Large Passenger Ship

The steamship was the next improvement in ship design.An American John Fitch, used a steam engine to drive a ship in 1786, His ship , the Experiment, had oars that were driven by steam , Soon afterwards Paddlesteamers were used . These had a paddle wheel , like the wheel of a water mill, at the side or back of the ship.

3D Picture of Large War Ship

In 1894, A British engineer built a new kind of steam ship engine.It was called the steam turbine , steam turbines use less fuel and go faster than paddlesteamers. The first steam turbine ship crossed the Atlantic in 1904. Soon all large ships were using turbines as engines.

Different Water Transport Vehicles 

                                                                                    3D animation showing Moving Ship On Sea

Steam turbines are still used in some ships today. Another type of engine often used is called the Diesel engine.The Diesel engine also powers some land vehicles, such as lorries and buses.

Kawasaki_heavy_industries cylinder_Diesel_Ship_Engine

THE HOVERCRAFT AND THE HYDROFOIL:

Some of the ships used today are quite different from the ships of 100 years ago. These are the ships of 100 years ago. These are the hovercraft  floats on a cushions of air which lifts it above the water.The hovercraft is driven forward by large propellers that spin in the air above the craft. Hovercraft can travel on both land and sea. The hydrofoil has small wings on its underside .These lift the craft out of the water when it is moving.

US marines hovercraft.

Other ships have push through the water and this slows them down. Hovercrafts and hydrofoils can move more swiftly because they travel above the water. They cannot travel over rough seas , and so are used for short journeys in quite waters.

Hydrofoil 

Submarines:

Under the sea , the ubmarine is used , The first submarine was built by David Bushnell in 1775.It was used during the American revolution when the Americans tried to attach a mine to the hull of a British ship .It was moved along by propeller-like screws that were turned by hand from within the submarine.

Submarine

The most modern submarines have small nuclear reactors which use plutonium or Uranium as fuel. They boil water to turn turbines which drive the propeller.The great advantage of a nuclear reactor is that it uses only a tiny quantity of fuel to produce a lot of power.So nuclear submarines can travel completely around the world without surfacing.

AIRCRAFT:

Aeroplane and Air Transport page in my Physics-World Software

People have always dreamt of being able to fly .Many flying machines and devices have been tried .The first successful balloons were launched by the Montgolfier brothers in 1782. They were filled withhot air, which being lighter than the cooler surrounding air lifted the balloon off the ground. In 1783 their balloon carried people through the air for the first time, although the balloon was tethered to the ground. In 1785 Blanchard and Jefries crossed the channel in a hydrogen filled balloon.Hydrogen is lighter than air and so rises up through the air.

Gliders, copying the principle of flight used by birds, were tried at the end of the nineteenth century. The wings of a glider are shaped so that as they pass through the air an upward force called the lift is created. A wing with this shape is called an aerofoil.

Gliders rely on the wind to give them the force or thrust to move forwards. The invention of the internal combustion engine made powered flight possible.

The Wright brothers learnt to fly gliders and they used this experience to make aeroplanes powered by petrol engines

The Wright Brothers:

The Wright brothers learnt to fly gliders and they used this experience to make aeroplanes powered by petrol engines.Their first successful flight took place on the 17th December 1903. The plane flew for 12 seconds covering 40 metres at a height of about 3 metres. The plane had a wood and canvas frame built round the engine.

At first flying was regarded as a dangerous sport.

At first flying was regarded as a dangerous sport. Plane were built for enthusiasts. In the first World War. However , they were used for dropping bombs. After the war it was realized how valuable they were. Planes were soon improved, wood and canvas giving way to metal , particularly aluminium. Instead of being open they had enclosed bodies, with seating for a passenger as well as a pilot.

Aeroplane Engine

In 1919 Alcock and Brown were the first to fly the Atlantic nonstop. In 1934 a DC2 was used to carry passengers from England to Australia. In 1939 Pan American provided the first transatlantic passenger device.

Air Transport Page

The second World War and after:

During the second world war , planes were the most vital part of the flighting force. During these six years , neccessity led the great advances in the development of aircraft.The main advances were the use of monoplanes (single wing) in place of biplanes ( double wing) and the development of the jet engine .By the end of the war both sides were using jet fighters. After the war all these developments were used to provide modern passenger aircraft.For example , The Boeing 707 was a development of the B29. The aircraft used to drop the atom bomb on Japan.

Small Aeroplane.

In fixed wing aircraft , lift is obtained from stationary wings. A propeller or jet produces the forward thrust.These aircraft need long runways and have high landing speed.

Big Passenger Aeroplane

Supersonic aircraft can fly faster than the speed of sound. Which is about 760 mph(1200 km per hour) .Concorde can fly at twice the speed of sound.

The first manned flight of the Montgolfier hot-air balloon took place on 21 November 1783.

The first historic flight made by the Wright brothers on 17 December, 1903. They made four more flights that day.

                                                                                     3D Animation Showing  Aeroplane Movement