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The way I see it: A motor produces locomotion. It makes other things move. An engine produces power. Locomotion can be derived from power but isn't required t

The way I see it: A motor produces locomotion. It makes other things move. An engine produces power. Locomotion can be derived from power but isn't required to. A train locomotive might be referred to as a "locomotive engine". A car with an internal combustion engine moves from power generated by that engine. But a car with electric motors does not have an engine because power is not produced there. Power is produced elsewhere and then stored in the battery. Locomotion is produced by consuming the stored power. Of course, that's just my interpretation of the two words without referring to a dictionary.

saalweachter 2y ago
A tractor was originally a "traction engine", to distinguish it from the steam engines you would haul around with horses to power equipment.
- czl 2y ago
  Go further back and there were machines called "siege engines".
  - jessekv 2y ago
    also, fire engines
upwardbound 2y ago
> An engine produces power. Locomotion can be derived from power but isn't required to. By this definition, is a fuel cell an engine? https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cells#:~:text=A%20fuel%20cell%20uses%20the,electricity%2C%20water%2C%20and%20heat https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cells#:~:text=A%2....
- LinAGKar 2y ago
  Or even just a barrel of fuel that's lit on fire to produce thermal energy
- inetknght 2y ago
  Perhaps! But I think by the time you're asking these kinds of questions you're then also dealing with one of the many reasons definitions can become nuanced as technology moves on.
LinAGKar 2y ago
And with an ICE, power is produced elsewhere and stored in the fuel tank.
arantius 2y ago
I used to think along these lines. But in actuality, not so much. By this definition they're the same thing. An electric motor converts electric energy into kinetic energy. A gasoline engine converts chemical energy to kinetic energy (and even more waste heat than the electric motor). (Neither of them produces power, this is of course impossible. Unless you're subtly using a very specific technical meaning of the word?) This input/output difference is a minor distinction. Or in other words: the power that a gasoline engine uses wasn't produced in the engine, it was produced by geological and chemical means, and in a giant refinery somewhere else.

saalweachter 2y ago

A tractor was originally a "traction engine", to distinguish it from the steam engines you would haul around with horses to power equipment.

czl 2y ago
Go further back and there were machines called "siege engines".
- jessekv 2y ago
  also, fire engines

upwardbound 2y ago

> An engine produces power. Locomotion can be derived from power but isn't required to. By this definition, is a fuel cell an engine? https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cells#:~:text=A%20fuel%20cell%20uses%20the,electricity%2C%20water%2C%20and%20heat https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cells#:~:text=A%2....

LinAGKar 2y ago
Or even just a barrel of fuel that's lit on fire to produce thermal energy
inetknght 2y ago
Perhaps! But I think by the time you're asking these kinds of questions you're then also dealing with one of the many reasons definitions can become nuanced as technology moves on.

LinAGKar 2y ago

And with an ICE, power is produced elsewhere and stored in the fuel tank.

arantius 2y ago

I used to think along these lines. But in actuality, not so much. By this definition they're the same thing. An electric motor converts electric energy into kinetic energy. A gasoline engine converts chemical energy to kinetic energy (and even more waste heat than the electric motor). (Neither of them produces power, this is of course impossible. Unless you're subtly using a very specific technical meaning of the word?) This input/output difference is a minor distinction. Or in other words: the power that a gasoline engine uses wasn't produced in the engine, it was produced by geological and chemical means, and in a giant refinery somewhere else.