Question

A steam engine comes under the category of ________

(a) External combustion engines

(b) Internal combustion engines

(c) All of the mentioned

(d) None of the mentioned

The question was posed to me in an international level competition.

My question is from Heat Engines topic in section Internal Combustion Engines of Automobile Engineering

Answer 1

Correct option is (a) External combustion engines

To elaborate: A steam engine is an External combustion engine. Steam engine is a type of heat engine in which heat is used as an input and this heat is converted into mechanical work. Steam pushes the piston and reciprocating motion of the piston is converted into rotary motion.