machine

(noun)

A mechanical or electrical device that performs or assists in the performance of human tasks, whether physical or computational, laborious or for entertainment.

Related Terms

  • mechanical advantage
  • leverage

Examples of machine in the following topics:

  • Simple Machines

    • A simple machine is a device that changes the direction of a force or augments a force; simple machines fall into six categories.
    • Usually, the term "simple machine" is referring to one of the six classical simple machines, defined by Renaissance scientists.
    • When a device with a specific movement, called a mechanism, is joined with others to form a machine, these machines can be broken down into elementary movements.
    • Simple machines which do not experience frictional losses are called ideal machines.
    • Table of simple mechanisms, from Chambers' Cyclopedia, 1728. [1] Simple machines provide a "vocabulary" for understanding more complex machines.
  • X-Ray Diffraction

    • The XRD machine uses copper metal as the element for the x-ray source.
    • Now the XRD machines are equipped with semiconductor detectors.
    • These XRD machines record images in two ways, either continuous scans or step scanning.
    • To ensure that the incident beam is continuous, XRD machines are equipped with a Soller slit.
  • Photocopy Machines and Printers

    • A photocopier is a machine that prints copies of documents and images on paper.
  • Using Interference to Read CDs and DVDs

    • The data is stored either by a stamping machine or laser and is read when the data is illuminated by a laser diode in the disc drive.
  • Solenoids, Current Loops, and Electromagnets

    • Electromagnets are employed for many uses: from a wrecking yard crane that lifts scrapped cars, to controlling the beam of a 90-km-circumference particle accelerator, to the magnets in medical imaging machines (for other examples see ).
  • NMR and MRIs

    • MRI machines (as pictured in ) make use of the fact that body tissue contains a large amount of water and therefore protons (1H nuclei), which get aligned in a large magnetic field.
  • X-Ray Imaging and CT Scans

  • Sources of EMF

    • The general principle governing the EMF in such electrical machines is Faraday's law of Induction.
  • Energy Transformations

    • The efficiency of conversions describes the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion machine.
  • Muscles and Joints

    • Viewing them as simple machines, the input force is much greater than the output force, as seen in .
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