the.com/piston
A tireless slug that turns tiny explosions into your morning commute, thousands of times a minute.
means A solid cylindrical part that slides up and down inside an engine's tube, transferring the force of expanding gases (or pressure) into motion.
from From French 'piston,' itself borrowed from Italian 'pistone,' a beefed-up form of 'pistare,' meaning to pound or crush. Trace it further back and you reach Latin 'pinsere,' to stamp or grind — the same root that underlies 'pestle,' that little tool you mash garlic with. So a piston is, etymologically, a pounder, which is exactly what it does down in the cylinder.
- top speed
- Reverses direction over 100 times per second
- birth metal
- Most are forged or cast from aluminum alloy
- steam roots
- Powered the Industrial Revolution long before cars
- heat trial
- Endures combustion blasts near 2500 degrees Fahrenheit
- weight obsession
- Lighter pistons let engines safely rev higher
detroit pistons — nba team that won back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990
bad boys era pistons — 1980s-90s detroit team known for physical defense, led by isiah thomas and joe dumars