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What is the difference between a motor and an engine?
Is there ever going to be an accepted world wide set of parameters - to be able to qualify an object into fitting under one word or the other as far as nomenclature? What say you my good engineers? Does it even matter?
3 Answers
- BombaLv 710 years agoFavorite Answer
Yes, there is some ambiguity.
A motor can be any power producing machine including an engine, but it most commonly refers to an electric motor. Engine commonly refers to an internal combustion machine like within an automobile. However, there are also steam engines. Yes, it does matter that you use the terms your audience commonly recognizes and so you first need to know who is listening or reading.
- TechnobuffLv 710 years ago
Doesn't matter for most purposes.
But you can motorise something, you cannot "engineise" it.
You can motivate e.g. a car or train or a person, you cannot "engineate" them.
There. Made up 2 new words!
"Gentlemen, start your engines!"
"The motor develops 400 HP".
- 10 years ago
Look at it this way.
A motor is a power plant and so is an engine.
A turbine is a power plant aswell as a combustion engine.
A steam engine is a power plant... is also called an engine...
Electricity is a power source produce by a motor, turbine or generator...
