heat engine
noun
: a mechanism (such as an internal combustion engine) for converting heat energy into mechanical or electrical energy
Examples of heat engine in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hurricanes are heat engines that use hot water to move air.
—
Umair Irfan, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
One way to model a hurricane is as a heat engine, a device that harnesses a temperature gradient to do work.
—Umair Irfan, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Heat switches can boost the efficiency of entire classes of heat engines, such as solar thermal power plants, which use heat from the sun to generate electricity.
—IEEE Spectrum, 17 Feb. 2023
In theory this process could create a small temperature imbalance, and therefore a useful heat engine, if the demon was smart about when to end the experiment and lock any temperature imbalance in place, much as a smart gambler on a hot streak knows when to leave the table.
—Quanta Magazine, 22 Apr. 2021
In 1823, Sadi Carnot (1796–1832) wanted to understand why a heat engine (like your car engine) is so inefficient at converting heat into work.
—Scott Bembenek, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2017
Carnot found that even a perfect heat engine (without frictional heat loss among the moving parts), can’t achieve 100% efficiency whereby all the heat is converted to work.
—Scott Bembenek, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2017
The theory of the hurricane heat engine places an upper limit on hurricane wind speeds.
—Kerry Emanuel, Discover Magazine, 24 Aug. 2015
Hurricanes are enormous heat engines that deliver energy on a staggering scale.
—Christina Nunez, National Geographic, 12 June 2019
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Umair Irfan, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
One way to model a hurricane is as a heat engine, a device that harnesses a temperature gradient to do work.
—Umair Irfan, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Heat switches can boost the efficiency of entire classes of heat engines, such as solar thermal power plants, which use heat from the sun to generate electricity.
—IEEE Spectrum, 17 Feb. 2023
In theory this process could create a small temperature imbalance, and therefore a useful heat engine, if the demon was smart about when to end the experiment and lock any temperature imbalance in place, much as a smart gambler on a hot streak knows when to leave the table.
—Quanta Magazine, 22 Apr. 2021
In 1823, Sadi Carnot (1796–1832) wanted to understand why a heat engine (like your car engine) is so inefficient at converting heat into work.
—Scott Bembenek, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2017
Carnot found that even a perfect heat engine (without frictional heat loss among the moving parts), can’t achieve 100% efficiency whereby all the heat is converted to work.
—Scott Bembenek, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2017
The theory of the hurricane heat engine places an upper limit on hurricane wind speeds.
—Kerry Emanuel, Discover Magazine, 24 Aug. 2015
Hurricanes are enormous heat engines that deliver energy on a staggering scale.
—Christina Nunez, National Geographic, 12 June 2019
Dictionary Entries Near heat engine
Cite this Entry
“Heat engine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heat%20engine. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share