Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force is transformed, by a connecting rod and flywheel, into rotational force for work. Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separated from the combustion products. This is a key technology in an Industrial Revolution that accelerates a civilization out of Type 0.