Steam Engine

Steam engine a machine that exploits the power of expanding steam. It is an external combustion engine, steam the working fluid is prodeced outside the engine by heating water in a boiler. The engine consists essentially of a piston in a cylinder Steam is introduced to each side of the piston in turn double action, driving itback and forth. The motion is carried by a connecting rod to say the wheels of a locomotive the first practical steam machine, used to pump water from mines, was Thomas Savery's steam pump 1968, which operated by means of valves but the forerunner of the reciprocating steam engine that was to power the industrial revolution was Thomas Newcomen's beam engine of 1712. James Watt brought out a greatly improved design in 1769 and by the 1790s had produced a powerful and reliable power source, capable of rotary motion and controlled by a governor. Steam engines were also successfully introduced to power ships and locomotives.