Most motors are designed to a set amount of work, usually rated in either watts or horsepower (746 watts per HP). Watt's law states that watts = volts x amps. If a particular motor needs to do 1 horsepower of work at 120 volts, it will draw about 6.22 amps. And yes, in an inductive […]

My friend Ami Slavin requested that I write about this important topic in response to the horrifying videos showing up online of death and gore associated with compressors exploding. He pointed out that the “diesel effect” can be the cause, so let's explore what may be—and likely is—leading to these horrible incidents. In a diesel […]

Heat is a byproduct of mechanical energy that presents itself as a temperature increase. French physicist James Prescott Joule aimed to equate heat to mechanical energy. Early experiments used paddle-like structures to stir water within a container and raise its temperature. The paddles would move and agitate the water whenever a mass on a pulley […]