Quote:
Originally posted by Gilly
The answer is even more simple than that:
They can be used interchangeably.
Gilly
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My Engineering Professor, Mr. Merrick, in his very stoic New England accent, would tell us boys, that the terms could be used interchangeably, but in our lexicon today, an engine uses a fuel (or substance) that changes it's state (solid, liquid, gas, plasma), where as a motor uses energy that has an effect on another body ... i.e. an electric motor uses electron flow (current) through a wire which creates (right-hand rule!) a magnetic field which then creates a force (electro magnetic force - EMF for short) onto another body ... hence motion. Yes, I am simplifying this but I hope the point is understood.
Now, what about Rocket Motors? Well, if you follow Mr. Merrick's statement, he's wrong. My brother, being a Machinist, used to machine Rocket Propellant in a Motor Casing for those "special" agencies in the U.S. The Rocket Motor was a chemical-based motor that produced motion via the material changing states (remember ... solid to gas/plasma).
Engine and Motor can be used interchangeably ... depends where you are, and how you are using it. Both words are now in our lexicon.