working substance

American  

noun

1. a substance, usually a fluid, that undergoes changes in pressure, temperature, volume, or form as part of a process for accomplishing work.

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working substance British  

noun

1. the fluid, esp water, steam, or compressed air, that operates an engine, refrigerator, etc

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Etymology

Origin of working substance

First recorded in 1895–1900

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

working substance

Heat transfer Qc occurs out of the working substance during the isothermal path CD, which takes place at constant temperature Tc .

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

Heat transfer Qh occurs into the working substance during the isothermal path AB, which takes place at constant temperature Th .

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

The air has served as working substance in a heat-engine; it has also been employed in the most advantageous manner possible, since no useless re-establishment of the equilibrium of heat has been allowed to occur.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various

This fraction is independent of the nature of the working substance, but varies with the temperature, and is121 therefore a function of the temperature.

From Lord Kelvin An account of his scientific life and work by Andrew Gray

Thus by a cyclical process, which leaves the working substance as it was, work is done at the expense of heat taken from the refrigerator, which Thomson's postulate affirms to be impossible.

From Lord Kelvin An account of his scientific life and work by Andrew Gray

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