Introduction

How can heat and thermal energy be controlled and directed efficiently to our advantage?



C8.1 paddlewheel on a riverboat
Early on, people did not understand the concepts of heat and thermal energy. However, they were quick to observe that when water was boiled, the steam that was produced created pressure. This led to the creation of the steam engine and, hundreds of years later, many other mechanical devices. We will look at both old and new technologies and how they operate on the process of energy being transformed from one form to another.

  Targets

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to

  • identify the processes of trial and error that led to the invention of the engine and relate the principles of thermodynamics to the development of more efficient engine designs
  • describe current and past technologies used to transform energy from one form to another and identify that energy transfer technologies produce measurable changes in motion, shape, or temperature
  • describe, in terms of thermodynamic laws, the energy transformations occurring in devices and systems

  Watch This

Coal, Steam, and the Industrial Revolution © YouTube CrashCourse 


This video will provides you with a great overview of the history of the steam engine and the Industrial Revolution. It goes through the different developments that have led to the modern steam engine. This will help get you in the right mindset for your first lesson in this section.