Page:Conservationofen00stew.djvu/128

112 Nature. But here Thomson's law comes into operation, showing that we cannot overcome Nature by any such device, but that if we have a large weight upon our piston, we must have a proportionally large difference of temperature between our two chambers—that is to say, the freezing point of water, under great pressure, will be lower in temperature than its freezing point, if the pressure upon it be only small.

Before leaving this subject we must call upon our readers to realize what takes place in all heat engines. It is not merely that heat produces mechanical effect, but that a given quantity of heat absolutely passes out of existence as heat in producing its equivalent of work. If, therefore, we could measure the mere heat produced in an engine by the burning of a ton of coals, we should find it to be less when the engine was doing work than when it was at rest.

In like manner, when a gas expands suddenly its temperature falls, because a certain amount of its heat passes out of existence in the act of producing mechanical effect.

157. We have thus endeavoured to show under what conditions absorbed heat may be converted into mechanical effect. This absorbed heat embraces (Art. 110) two varieties of energy, one of these being molecular motion, and the other molecular energy of position.

Let us now, therefore, endeavour to ascertain under what circumstances the one of these varieties may be