Why is it called a motor mount?

[harrisonm]

A mechanical device that spins when electricity is applied to it is correctly called a motor. Electric fan motor, starter motor, etc. Consequently, if it is powered by gas, diesel or jet fuel, it is correctly called an engine. Jet engine, gasoline engine, etc. Then why do we call the mounts that hold the engine in the car Motor Mounts????

 

[RustyRatRod]

Your definition of motor is incorrect. It does not have to be electric.

Beyond that, they are called motor mounts because they mount the motor. Simple.

 

[harrisonm]

Sorry, gotta disagree. If you google it, you will find LOTS of examples like the following two.

Both engine and motor refer to a device used to convert some form of energy into mechanical motion. They are sometimes used interchangeably in casual conversation, but, technically speaking, they do not mean the same:

engine = a device that uses combustion or heat to produce motion
motor = a device that converts electric energy into motion



The basic and main difference between motor and engine is that engine converts chemical energy of fuel into mechanical energy whereas motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Both these devices used for develop mechanical motion.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Disagree all you want.

Definition of MOTOR

 

[72bluNblu]

Disagree all you want.

Definition of MOTOR

Merriam webster is not an engineering source.

If it uses combustion, it is an ENGINE. Period. There is no such thing as a combustion motor. If you'd like to take a few years of thermodynamics, you can come back and disagree afterward if you still hold the same opinion.

 

[TrailBeast]

Because "Dept of Engine Vehicles" sounds dumb.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Oh bullshit. Yall dont know jack squat. The definition of motor has been the same for a hundred years. Yall just want to twist it to what you think it is.

So, now you're sayin you're smarter than Merriam Webster? Now that's a fuckin hoot.

You go find a thousand references to a motor being electrical and I'll go find two thousand saying it's internal combustion. Here's a hint, genius. It's BOTH and THEN SOME.

 

[MrJLR]

I agree with the OP....just not enough to argue about it. ....lol

Jeff

 

[gdrill]

I go with the electric motor and the combustion engine system. I've never called anything a motor in any of my vehicles. But that's just the way I was taught so many years ago.

Edit: I shouldn't say never but it would be a rare occasion!

 

[72bluNblu]

Oh bullshit. Yall dont know jack squat. The definition of motor has been the same for a hundred years. Yall just want to twist it to what you think it is.

So, now you're sayin you're smarter than Merriam Webster? Now that's a fuckin hoot.

You go find a thousand references to a motor being electrical and I'll go find two thousand saying it's internal combustion. Here's a hint, genius. It's BOTH and THEN SOME.

You're right, the definition of "motor" has been the same for over a hundred years. And it does not, and has never, referred to an internal combustion engine.

Merriam Webster is not a technical reference, and it changes it's definitions to adapt to usage. Don't believe me?

Definition of TWERKING

Common usage does not make something factually accurate, but common usage can make something a word or change the definition of a word. Just because it's in the dictionary doesn't mean it's proper English either, by the way.

I go with the electric motor and the combustion engine system. I've never called anything a motor in any of my vehicles. But that's just the way I was taught so many years ago.

And you were taught correctly!

Common understanding is one thing, and I don't go around correcting people that ask me what "motor" I have in my car or proceed to tell them all about my starter motor. But if you want to be technically accurate, if it uses combustion it is an engine, and not a motor. You can look up as many references for using "motor" to refer to an internal combustion engine as you'd like, but they're all technically false.

 

[RustyRatRod]

No, I don't, because Merriam Webster was only the FIRST in a LONG line I grabbed. Damn man. This is like first grade science. A motor is ANY device that transfers one type energy to another. It doesn't have to be electrical.

 

[g413]

I'm not sure I should jump in here, but what the hell. I don't have any problem with thing under the hood with pistons being called a motor.

I'm more bothered with why a radiator is called a radiator. The engine water loses heat to the "radiator" coil by convection. The coil loses heat to the fins by conduction. The fins lose heat to the ambient air again by convection. Notice how the heat transfer term called "radiation" has not appeared. Therefore, when people talk about painting the radiator black to improve heat transfer, it really doesn't make much sense.

 

[72bluNblu]

No, I don't, because Merriam Webster was only the FIRST in a LONG line I grabbed. Damn man. This is like first grade science. A motor is ANY device that transfers one type energy to another. It doesn't have to be electrical.

No Rob, it is not first grade science. Maybe that's when you learned it incorrectly, but to be technically accurate there is no such thing as an internal combustion motor. If it uses combustion, it's an engine. Do you call your starter motor a "starter engine"? I bet you don't. Did they call old locomotives "steam motors"? They did not, they called them steam engines. Using "motor" to refer to an engine is slang. Yes, we all know what you mean. But it is not technically accurate. It would not work in a thermodynamics lab, it would not work in electrical engineering. There is a difference, and it is important if you go beyond the lay person talking about their car in their garage.

So if you want to swear and call names, be my guest. It will not change the fact that you're technically incorrect, and it doesn't matter what your opinion is.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Dude, wake up. It's like this. It's all a matter of opinion. Plain and simple. You have yours and I have mine.

I can back mine up just as much as you can yours. It's that simple.

 

[GeorgeH]

I'm not sure I should jump in here, but what the hell. I don't have any problem with thing under the hood with pistons being called a motor.

I'm more bothered with why a radiator is called a radiator. The engine water loses heat to the "radiator" coil by convection. The coil loses heat to the fins by conduction. The fins lose heat to the ambient air again by convection. Notice how the heat transfer term called "radiation" has not appeared. Therefore, when people talk about painting the radiator black to improve heat transfer really doesn't make much sense.

ra·di·a·tor
ˈrādēˌādər/
noun

1. a thing that radiates or emits light, heat, or sound.

 

[magnumdart]

Maybe because one of the components the mount holds in place is the starter. Of course I use my leg to start my enginecycle. And that should end the controversy of why they are called locomotive mounts. Or are those tracks. Now I am really confused.

 

['Cuda_ragtop]

better toss another log on the fire...

found this using a "Search Engine" not a "Search Motor"...


From wordnet.princeton.edu/

• A motor is a machine that converts other forms of energy into mechanical energy and so imparts motion.
• An engine is a motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work.

So an engine is a specific type of motor. That's why it's not incorrect to speak of a motorboat, or a motorcar, or a motor speedway, even if the boat or car is clearly powered by combustion.

Note that if there's no combustion, there's no engine. Purely electric cars don't have engines.

As nouns, motor can also refer to a nonspecific agent that causes motion: "happiness is the aim of all men and the motor of all action", and engine can refer to something used to achieve a purpose: "an engine of change", a railway locomotive, or a machine used in warfare: "medieval engines of war".

enjoy

----o00o--'(_)'--o00o----

 

[magnumdart]

From a physics stand point I look at them all as a combination of simple machines, forming more complex machines, no matter what they do, or how they do it. I'm not sure whether they require engine oil or motor oil.

 

[Lustle]

Motor; From the Latin moto - meaning "I set in motion"

So it's anything that imparts motion. Whether powered by electricity. Combustion. Or small tiny hamsters. It's a motor.

And just for you "electric motor" guys. There are things called "motor proteins". They are proteins that "motor" by changing chemical energy into mechanical energy. And set whatever creature they are present in, into motion. Hence the name "motor protein". Or do you think that term is incorrect as well because it's not reference to electric motors?

 

[72bluNblu]

Dude, wake up. It's like this. It's all a matter of opinion. Plain and simple. You have yours and I have mine.

I can back mine up just as much as you can yours. It's that simple.

It is NOT a matter of opinion. Facts are facts and you don't get to have an opinion about them, they're just facts. And not understanding the facts is not grounds for having an opinion about them. If you decide to hold an opinion in opposition of the facts you're just wrong.

I also never said that motors had to be electric (they don't), I just said engines use combustion. I should be a little more careful, because engines use a combustion cycle and have generally have moving parts to control those cycles.

The space shuttle is a great example of this. The launch vehicle was made up of the shuttle, the external tank, and the solid rocket boosters. This is where it gets entertaining. The shuttle is powered by 3 main engines. The solid rocket boosters (srb's) are powered by solid rocket motors. Uh-huh. The shuttle was not powered by motors, and the rockets were not powered by engines, and it is not correct to refer to one as the other. The shuttle engines used a combustion cycle to produce thrust, they had a couple of stages of combustion as well as pumps and turbines, they're a really complicated affair. NASA - Space Shuttle Main Engines The solid rocket motors convert a chemical reaction directly to thrust, there's no internal moving parts. No pre or post stages, no turbines, just a chamber and a nozzle, energy straight to motion in one shot. NASA - Solid Rocket Boosters.

It's an important distinction, and it makes a difference to people that actually do the work of designing engines and motors.

 

[famous bob]

Sorry, gotta disagree. If you google it, you will find LOTS of examples like the following two.

Both engine and motor refer to a device used to convert some form of energy into mechanical motion. They are sometimes used interchangeably in casual conversation, but, technically speaking, they do not mean the same:

engine = a device that uses combustion or heat to produce motion
motor = a device that converts electric energy into motion



The basic and main difference between motor and engine is that engine converts chemical energy of fuel into mechanical energy whereas motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Both these devices used for develop mechanical motion.

------------------this-----------------

 

[abodyjoe]

 

[Valiant63]

GETTING back to the original question and disregarding RRR's opinion, what would an EDUCATED person say is the reason that motor mounts are improperly named? Someone who has done some research on it, please, and not an opinion. Opinions are like assholes and not only does every one have one, but some people are them.

 

[Lustle]

GETTING back to the original question and disregarding RRR's opinion, what would an EDUCATED person say is the reason that motor mounts are improperly named? Someone who has done some research on it, please, and not an opinion. Opinions are like assholes and not only does every one have one, but some people are them.

They aren't improperly named. It's that simple.

Anything that imparts motion on something else, is a motor. Whether through electricity. Combustion. Or chemical reaction. Or any other means. Moto means "I set in motion" in latin. That's why there are electric motors. Combustion motors. Wind motors. And even cellular (yes in your body) motors. Because they all impart motion onto something.

There's your educated answer.

 

[Pascamp]

I like brunettes, beer, and pushrod V8's.