The apparent or external work performed by steam in expanding and moving a piston against a given resistance is measurable by multiplying the amount of the resistance against which the piston moved by the distance it moved through, thus:
Suppose a piston weighs 100 lbs. and had resting upon it a weight of 50 lbs., and that it be raised by the expansive action of steam a distance of a foot, then, since the total resistance it moved against would be (supposing it to move frictionless in the cylinder) 150 lbs., and since the amount of motion was 1 foot, the external or apparent amount of work performed by the steam will be 150 foot lbs., or 150 lbs. moved 1 foot.
But in expanding, the steam has performed a certain amount of what is called internal work, that is to say, its particles or atoms have done work in expanding, and this work has been done at the expense of some of the heat in the steam, so that the loss of heat due to the motion of the piston is the amount of heat converted into work in moving the piston against the piston resistance, added to that converted into the internal work due to the expansion of the steam.
It is because of this internal work that the steam in expanding does not strictly follow Mariotte’s law.
The mechanical theory of heat is, that the atoms of which bodies are composed are at absolute rest when at a temperature of 461.2° below the zero of Fahrenheit, which is supposed to be absolute cold, and at any degree of temperature above this the atoms are in motion; the extent and force of their motion determines what we know as the temperature of the body.
Atoms are capable of transmitting their motion to adjoining atoms of the same or of other bodies, losing, of course, the amount of motion they transmit, and it is in this way that heat is conveyed from one to another part of the same body, or from one body to another, this being known as the heat of conduction.
But heat may be conveyed by means of what is known as radiation, and also by convection.
Thus, the air surrounding a heated body becomes heated, and by reason of its expansion it then becomes lighter and rises, a fresh supply of cooler air taking its place, becoming in turn heated, and again giving place to cooler air; the heat thus conveyed away by the fluid or air is conveyed by what is termed convection.
Heat also passes from a body in straight lines or rays, which do not heat the air through which they pass to their own temperature, but do impart that temperature to a solid body, as iron or water; the heat that passes from a body in this manner is termed radiant heat, or the heat of radiation.
In the cylinder of a steam engine, therefore, the heat contained in the steam is disposed of as follows: