To build a steam engine, you need an empty can, metal tubes, beaded chain, rubbing alcohol, wooden dowels, and a flat piece of wood. The engine has three components: a source of heat, a boiler, and an engine unit. The steam engine was revolutionary due to its ease of use and transportability, and it fueled the Industrial Revolution.
To build a steam engine, all you need are a few items around the house and at a hardware store. They include an empty can, some small metal tubes, and a piece of beaded chain. A can of rubbing alcohol, a few wooden dowels, and a small flat piece of wood are also needed. You can drill two holes near the top of the can, insert your tubes into said holes, and weld them in place; solder a length of beaded chain to the center of the lid and seal it. Use the dowels and the flat piece of wood to make a harness for the can and then fill the can with water, heat it with jellied alcohol and watch the can spin.
To properly build a steam engine, you need to know its important components. The first of these is a source of heat, i.e. the jellied alcohol which will turn the water into steam. The second is a boiler, or can, a container for the water to be transformed into steam. This component also supplies the engine motor with steam. The third major component of the steam engine is the engine unit, the part that receives the high pressure steam. It also converts the energy of the steam into work or “harness”, the mechanical form of energy.
The steam engine is, in principle, an external combustion engine, a machine that heats its fuel with an external source. By transforming the water inside the boiler into steam, its mass is considerably increased. When the boiler is oriented in a certain direction, it can propel and generate a large amount of mechanical energy for various uses.
To be able to understand how to build a steam engine, it will also be helpful to understand the device that is similar to the engine. This was the Greek aeolipile: a heated vessel with two relief valves, which allowed steam to escape along the valves and rotate the vessel along an axis. The machine may be simple compared to those of today, but it is still a common activity to build a steam engine as a simple experiment to demonstrate the capabilities of steam power.
The steam engine was revolutionary in the sense that it didn’t have some of the tougher requirements of other power sources at the time. Boiling water was easy to obtain compared to coal and wood, and the machine could be easily transported, unlike windmills which had to be stationary. These and many other conveniences are what enabled the steam engine to fuel the Industrial Revolution, an important stage in the history of technology. When you understand the concepts and components behind it, it’s easy to build a steam engine and demonstrate the force that drove the industrial revolution.
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