A steam engine

Demonstrations

Energy transfers using a model steam engine.

Apparatus and materials

Steam engine unit (A model steam engine is included in the Malvern energy transfer kit)

Motor/dynamo unit
G-clamp, 5 cm
Line shaft unit
Mounted pulley and shaft light cord, about 1 m
Mass, 0.5 kg
Lamp unit
Driving belt

Technical notes

The steam engine must be operated using solid fuel, or where designed for it, liquefied
petroleum gas.
When the steam pressure is high enough, turn the flywheel by hand until the condensed
vapour has been expelled. The engine will now run freely.

Safety

The Head of Department should ensure only staff that have been trained to use the
school's steam engine(s) are allowed to do so. Technicians also need instruction on
maintenance.
All steam engines must be examined regularly as specified in the written scheme of
examination (see CLEAPSS guidance).
Those models designed to use the laboratory gas supply should have been disposed of
years ago. Methylated spirit burners should have been replaced with those designed for
solid fuels.

Procedure

a Clamp the engine to the bench with a G-clamp and clamp the line shaft next to it. Join
the small pulley on the engine to the large pulley on the line shaft with a belt. Attach a
length of cord to a mass on the floor (about 1/2 kg) with the other end attached to the line
shaft. The engine will raise this load, giving it potential energy which is drawn from the
chemical energy of the gas supply or solid fuel.
b Remove the load from the steam engine so that it accelerates.

c Remove the line shaft and clamp the motor/dynamo unit next to the steam engine.
Connect the two with the drive belt. Connect the output of the dynamo unit to the lamp
unit. Unscrew the lamps so that 1, 2, or 3 lamps are connected. This will produce a
change in the mechanical load on the steam engine.

Teaching notes

1 The steam engine exhibits a whole chain of energy transfers and the teacher needs to
decide which are the important ones to highlight.
2 When the fuel is burnt, chemical energy stored in the fuel is transferred to the water in
the pressure cylinder so that the cylinder and the water warm up. The water vapour
produced increases the pressure on the pistons, so the energy stored as fuel + oxygen is
eventually transferred to motion energy of the pistons.

3 In procedure a, motion energy from the pistons is transferred to spin energy of the
flywheel and line-shaft, and a 1/2 kg load will be raised. The load will gain uphill energy.
When heavier loads are put on the line-shaft the steam engine will slow down because it
can only transfer energy at a given rate. If the load is removed all together as in b, the
steam engine speeds up and increases its own motion energy.

In procedure c, the dynamo produces an electric current which carries energy to the
lamps. The lamp filament warms up and light is radiated to the surroundings. The more
lamps that are connected the slower the steam engine runs and the dimmer the lamps are.
If too many lamps are connected the steam engine might stall. It is effective to use two or
three low voltage bulbs in parallel. With all the lamps alight, the engine labours heavily;
with none connected, it races.

4 This may be a good time to discuss the generation of electricity from various fuels and
the reason why power cuts can happen when too many people try to run too many
appliances at the same time. For example, on Christmas Day, it can take longer to cook
lunch because everyone wants to do it at once. System managers must ensure that a
power station does not stall and the a.c. frequency does not fall too low (this would
damage sensitive equipment).

This experiment was safety-checked in November 2005