Industrial+Revolution+in+Britain+-+The++Steam+Engine

media type="custom" key="2975852" wgoerling@aol.com 11wgoerling@gmail.com 1. The Industrial Revolution was a indistinct period of time when the main source of labor became machines, human-workers specialized in a single part of the production of something, and new sources of power were developed, all to increase the productivity and efficiency of the production process, so as to make more profit. 2. The first Steam engine was invented in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen, based upon a piston-powered pump used by the Romans, added on with a water container, a furnace, and a funnel to focus the steam. This was improved on by James Watt in 1764-1787. with various parts to improve the energy efficiency of the steam engine. -//The Mechanical Age// by Celia Bland The first steam engine was made by Thomas Savery based upon designs written by Edward Somerset. It had no moving parts, so could not be considered a true engine. Wikipedia-Newcomen Steam engine http://www.thadguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/hope_of_james_watt.png lilburja38@gmail.com http://www.mgsteam.btinternet.co.uk/engdev.htm __UXL Encyclopedia of Science__. Ed. Rob Nagel. Vol. 9. 2nd ed. Detroit: UXL, 2002. 1817-1820. __Gale Virtual Reference Library__. Gale. Trial Site Database. 25 Nov. 2008 **//[|The Gale Encyclopedia of Science]//**. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 5. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2008. p4134-4136. Steam engines also replaced wind power, such as windmills, to drive land drainage pumps which kept reclaimed land from flooding Wherever any industrial activity was required the steam engine provided the power. Thomas Savery would have already done work with atmospheric pressure and and vacuum. After his studies he set on building an engine that would condense water and use pressure to push it through a pipe to provide energy. This new idea of Savery's becomes one of the common machines used by miners. About the same time Thomas Newcomen is also experimenting with engines. His version involves a piston in which vapor is sprayed upward and the piston then forces it down which causes a vacuum. The only problem he came to was how to condense the steam quickly. To fix this he introduced a water jet that condensed the steam when the piston was at the top of the chamber. There were engines that had different purposes. These purposes would be for conducting electricity, some were used to run factory machines, and others were used to run trains. It is known that the greeks layed the foundation of the steam engine but it was ignored for nearly 1500 years. Although these people spent there time working on the steam engine, there was very little knowledge of steam power at this time. The newer improvements on the engine allowed the invention to have more of a variety for its uses. Its capabilities allowed it to now be used to dig. Mike Dahl It was Newcomens later version of the steam engine introduced around 1712 that paved the way and was the basis for the newer and improved steam engine that was later used in the California Gold rush in the 1850's. Its main uses were for draining water and resupplying it in mines and other places and steam was given off hence the name "the steam engine." The way the engine receives energy is from burning materials most commonly coals because they are the most productive and a very abundant resource. One of the main reasons the steam engine was so successful was the fact that it could produce heat into anything mechanical and coukld do it well helping boost the industrial revolution in Britain. mikedahl42@gmail.com