- REDIRECT
In the
history of science, the
mechanical equivalent of heat states that
motion and
heat are mutually interchangeable and that in every case, a given amount of
work would generate the same amount of heat, provided the work done is totally converted to heat energy. The mechanical equivalent of heat was a
concept that had an important part in the development and acceptance of the
conservation of energy and the establishment of the science of
thermodynamics in the 19th century.