Heron of Alexandria beef agent ‘Aeolipile’
Author: admin
Materials used: -Enamel hobby paint can for the main body and the burner -Bits from three jet lighters for the nozzles -Brass tubes -Axle that is threded in both ends (i just had it laying around, i have no idea where it came from) -Some washers -Parts form an old CD player for the base -Hybrid ball bearings 4×6x3 (2x) -Various copper tubes for the mounting of the Aeolipile Probably the most famous invention of the great Heron of Alexandria (10 CE — 70 CE) was his aeolipile, a steam engine that worked on exactly the same principle as the great machines of the industrial revolution and many modern electricity-generating turbines. His machine consisted of a water reservoir with a heat source located underneath, and copper tubing extended upwards from this, acting as the pivot for a rotating sphere. To the outside of the sphere, two nozzles were created from tubing bent out from the surface of this sphere, making an L-shape. The principle behind the machine relied upon steam from the heated water rising through the copper tubing into the sphere. This steam escaped through the nozzles at high speed, generating thrust according to Newton’s 2nd and 3rd laws of motion, causing the sphere to rotate on its axis. Simpler versions of Heron’s aeolipile dispensed with the boiler and simply heated the water in the sphere; this was much easier to build but would not operate for long before the water boiled away.