motor

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motor Mechanism that converts energy (such as heat or electricity) into useful work. The term is sometimes applied to the internal combustion engine, but is more often applied to the electric motor. Rocket engines are motors that can leave the Earth's atmosphere because they carry both fuel and oxidizer. Ion motors are in development, intended for spacecraft propulsion: a stream of ions, possibly from a nuclear reactor, is accelerated in a strong electrostatic field to produce a reaction that drives the spacecraft.

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