Physical Transformation AtlasPTA
Pathway · p-3f26a176c8 · candidate

Electric potential difference → Mechanical work

Electric potential differencePeltier effectTemperature gradientMarangoni effectFluid flowAerodynamic and hydrodynamic liftMechanical motionMechanical work

Epistemic state of the route

known constituent relations
6 / 7 established or replicated · weakest constituent demonstrated
constituent maturity floor
K4 · experimentally observed
search for this exact route
Not assessed — complete composition not searched.
recorded-pathway overlap
none recorded
route-level evidence
0 sources for the complete composition · 9 cited by the constituent steps
boundaries and interfaces
BOUNDARY compatible · no region transition

Explorematrix context · physics checks · steps · route evidence · constituent evidence · cite

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.06 × C.01 · Electric potential difference × Thermoelectricfamily: ThermoelectricD.06 × C.34 · Electric potential difference × Marangonifamily: MarangoniD.06 × C.24 · Electric potential difference × Turbomachineryfamily: Turbomachinery

Typed bounds on this route

Every limit the atlas holds for this route, as constraint records: reached through bounded_by claims on the route's own entities. Hard bounds (an upper bound or a formula) decide the thermodynamic-bound check above; benchmarks, constitutive relations and resource limits are listed and never decisive. No prose limit exists anywhere (pass 42).

  • Carnot limit · formula-bound · hard, applies to this route
    η ≤ 1 − T_c/T_h for any heat engine between reservoirs at T_h and T_c
  • Betz limit · upper-bound · hard, filtered out by its applicability
    C_p ≤ 16/27 ≈ 59.3% of the kinetic power through the rotor disc

Steps

  1. 01
    electrical → thermal · loss to thermal
    • a current through a junction of dissimilar conductors
    solid · conductor required
    refs [1] [2]
  2. 02
    thermal → thermal
    refs [2]
  3. 03
    thermal → kinetic · loss to thermal
    • thermocapillary case: surface tension falls with temperature, so a temperature gradient along the interface drives flow toward the cold side
    liquid · temperature gradient required
    refs [3] [4]
  4. 04
    Marangoni effect —produces→ Fluid flowdemonstratedclaim record
    kinetic → kinetic · loss to thermal
    • thermocapillary pumping of a liquid plug or droplet confined in a microchannel; the surface-tension gradient translates the plug rather than producing only local interfacial circulation
    Thermocapillary pumping (TCP) of a discrete droplet in a closed microchannel: the plug's displacement and velocity were measured on the PZT device of Odukoya & Naterer 2013 and in their 2010 experiments. The confined translating plug is bulk, loadable flow; that fact must not leak onto open-surface Marangoni circulation, which keeps its own claim and tokens.
    refs [5] [6]
  5. 05
    kinetic → mechanical · loss to thermal
    • a rotor or vane in the produced stream at a working angle of attack; the driven flow must carry a directed momentum flux for a blade to load
    bulk flow required
    refs [7] [8]
  6. 06
    mechanical → mechanical
    refs [8]
  7. 07
    Mechanical motion —converts into→ Mechanical workestablishedclaim record
    mechanical → mechanical · loss to thermal
    refs [9]

Evidence for the complete composition · 0

No source on record for this exact composition. The sources below support the individual steps, not the route as a whole.

Evidence for the constituent relations · 9

  1. [1]
    J. C. A. Peltier. Nouvelles expériences sur la caloricité des courants électriques (1834)
    Annales de Chimie et de Physique 56, 371–386 · paper, no DOI · record
  2. [2]
    H. J. Goldsmid. Introduction to Thermoelectricity (2nd ed.) (2016)
    Springer Series in Materials Science 121 · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-49256-7 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  3. [3]
    L. E. Scriven, C. V. Sternling. The Marangoni Effects (1960)
    Nature 187, 186-188 · doi:10.1038/187186a0 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-20 · record
  4. [4]
    Q. Dai et al.. Directional interfacial motion of liquids: Fundamentals, evaluations, and manipulation strategies (2021)
    Tribology International 154, 106749 · doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106749 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-20 · record
  5. [5]
    P. S. Glockner, G. F. Naterer. Surface tension and frictional resistance of thermocapillary pumping in a closed microchannel (2006)
    International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49(23–24), 4424–4436 · doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2006.05.005 · record
  6. [6]
    A. Odukoya, G. F. Naterer. Transient response of thermocapillary pumping of a droplet in a micro heat engine (2013)
    International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 58, 202–212 · doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.11.009 · record
  7. [7]
    A. Betz. Das Maximum der theoretisch möglichen Ausnützung des Windes durch Windmotoren (1920)
    Zeitschrift für das gesamte Turbinenwesen 26, 307–309 · paper, no DOI · record
  8. [8]
    S. L. Dixon, C. A. Hall. Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery (7th ed.) (2014)
    Butterworth-Heinemann · doi:10.1016/C2011-0-05059-7 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  9. [9]
    A. Bejan. Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics (4th ed.) (2016)
    Wiley · doi:10.1002/9781119245964 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record

Cite this route

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). route p-3f26a176c8: Electric potential difference → Peltier effect → Temperature gradient → Marangoni effect → Fluid flow → Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic lift → Mechanical motion → Mechanical work. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/path/3f26a176c8

Ids and matrix addresses are stable across revisions; the revision hash identifies the exact canonical files the record was compiled from and is meta.data_hash in every /api export. Reuse terms: see the license field in any export.