Machine

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This article is about devices that perform tasks. For other uses, see Machine (disambiguation).

The scientific definition of a machine is any device that transmits or modifies energy. In common usage, the meaning is restricted to devices that perform or assist in performing useful work. It normally requires some energy source ("input") and accomplishes some sort of work.

People have used mechanisms and machines to amplify their abilities since before written records were available. Generally these devices decrease the amount of force required to do a given amount of work, alter the direction of the force, or transform one form of motion or energy into another.

The mechanical advantage of a simple machine is the ratio between the force it exerts on the load and the input force applied. This does not entirely describe the machine's performance, as force is required to overcome friction as well. The mechanical efficiency of a machine is the ratio of the actual mechanical advantage (AMA) to the ideal mechanical advantage (IMA). Functioning physical machines are always less than 100% efficient.

Modern power tools, automated machine tools, and human-operated power machinery complicate the definition of "machine" greatly. Machines used to transform heat or other energy into mechanical energy are known as engines.

Hydraulics devices may also be used to support industrial applications namely, heavy equipment industries, automobile industries, marine industries, aeronautical industries, construction equipment industries, earthmoving equipment industries.

[edit] See also

**Types of Machine**
Simple machines	Inclined plane, Wheel and axle, Lever, Pulley, Wedge, Screw
Mechanical components	Gear, Rope, Spring, Wheel, Axle, Bearings, Belts, Seals, Roller chains, Link chains, Rack and pinion, Fastener
Clock	Atomic clock, Chronometer, Pendulum clock, Quartz clock
Compressors and Pumps	Archimedes screw, Eductor-jet pump, Hydraulic ram, Pump, Tuyau, Vacuum pump
Heat engines	External combustion engines	Steam engine, Stirling engine
Heat engines	Internal combustion engines	Reciprocating engine, Wankel engine, Jet engine, Rocket, gas turbine
Linkages	Pantograph, Peaucellier-Lipkin
Turbine	Gas turbine, Jet engine, Steam turbine, Water turbine, Wind generator, Windmill (Air turbine)
Airfoil	Sail, Wing, Rudder, Flap, Propeller
Electronic machines	Computing machines	Calculator, Computer, Analog computer
Electronic machines	Electronics	Transistor, Diode, Capacitor, Resistor, Coil
Biological machines	Virus, Bacterium, Cell (biology), Plant and animal, DNA computers, Human being, The Mind
Miscellaneous	Robot, Vending machine, Wind tunnel

[edit] References

Oberg, Erik, Franklin D. Jones, Holbrook L. Horton, and Henry H. Ryffel (2000). ed. Christopher J. McCauley, Riccardo Heald, and Muhammed Iqbal Hussain: Machinery's Handbook, 26th edition, New York: Industrial Press Inc.. ISBN 0-8311-2635-3.

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