A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, amolecular machine

and a biological machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work. A simple machine is a device that transforms the direction or magnitude of a force. The word "machine" is derived from the Latin word machina,[1] which in turn derives from the Doric Greek (machana), Ionic Greek (mechane) "contrivance, machine, engine"[2] and that from (mechos), "means, expedient, remedy".[3] The meaning of machine is traced by the Oxford English Dictionary[4] to an independently functioning structure and by Merriam-Webster Dictionary[5] to something that has been constructed. This includes human design into the meaning of machine. Historically, a device required moving parts to classify as a machine; however, the advent of electronics technology has led to the development of devices without moving parts that many refer to as machines, such as a computer, radio, and television.[1]

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1 Usage 1.1 Simple machines

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1.2 Engines 1.3 Computing machines 1.4 Molecular machines 2 History 3 Machine elements 3.1 Mechanisms 3.2 Controllers 4 Machine design 5 Types and related components 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading

[edit]Usage [edit]Simple

machines

The idea that a machine can be broken down into simple movable elements led Archimedes to define the lever, pulley and screw assimple machines. By the time of the Renaissance this list increased to include the wheel and axle, wedge and inclined plane. [edit]Engines The word engine derives from "ingenuity" and originally referred to contrivances that may or may not be physical devices. An automobile engine is called an internal combustion engine because it burns fuel (an exothermic chemical reaction) inside a cylinder and uses the expanding gases to drive a piston. A jet engine uses a turbine to compress air which is burned with fuel so that it expands through a nozzle to provide thrust to an aircraft, and so is also an "internal combustion engine." [6] [edit]Computing

machines

Computers store and manipulate the flow of electrons, with patterns in this storage and flow being interpreted as information manipulation. See State Machine and Turing Machine. Charles Babbage designed various machines to tabulate logarithms and other functions in 1837. His Difference Engine is the first mechanical calculator. This machine is considered to be the forerunner of the modern computer though none of them were built in his lifetime. [edit]Molecular

machines

Study of the molecules and proteins that are the basis of biological functions has led to the concept of a molecular machine. For example, current models of the operation of the kinesin molecule that transports vesicles inside the cell as well as the myocin molecule that operates

against actin to cause muscle contraction; these molecules control movement in response to chemical stimuli. Researchers in nano-technology are working to construct molecules that perform movement in response to a specific stimulus. In contrast to molecules such as kinesin and myosin, these nano-machines or molecular machines are constructions like traditional machines that are designed to perform in a task. [edit]History

Flint hand axe found in Winchester

Perhaps the first example of a human made device designed to manage power is the hand axe, made by chipping flint to form a wedge. A wedge is a simple machine that transforms lateral force and movement of the tool into a transverse splitting force and movement of the workpiece. The lever is perhaps the first machine to be analysed mathematically; Archimedes provided the first known description of the principle of the lever. [edit]Machine

elements

Machines are assembled from components called machine elements. These elements consist ofmechanisms that control movement in various ways such as gear trains, transistor switches, beltor chain drives, linkages, cam and follower systems, brakes and clutches, and structural components such as frame members and fasteners. Modern machines include sensors, actuators and computer controllers. The shape, texture and color of covers provide a styling and operational interface between the mechanical components of a machine and its users.