Stella Preview
You can try the first discovery and the 3D controls now. Stella unlocks every stage.
Steam Engine: When Heat Becomes Motion
Explore how fire turns water into steam, steam becomes pressure, and pressure moves pistons, rods, and iron wheels.
How does the heat of a fire become rotation of a wheel?
A steam engine hands the heat of a fire to water, makes steam pressure, and turns that push into rotation through the piston and the rods. Here you follow the conversion heat -> pressure -> straight motion -> rotation one step at a time.
Background reference: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Steam .
Use the three 30-second discovery buttons to open the highlights of heat, pressure, and the driving wheels first.
30-second discovery
Look at the firebox firstStart from “light the fire” in the 30-second discovery and you can follow heat, steam, and the driving wheels in order.
You can try the first discovery and the 3D controls now. Stella unlocks every stage.