Hi Gang!
Here's a fun science experiment to do.
It's called Hero's steam engine,
and it's just that,
a very easy to make steam engine.
There are little jets of steam jetting out
of it from two holes.
Those jets provide the propulsive force.
It's named after Hero of Alexandria
who described it as shown here
in the 1st century AD.
Here's how it's made.
Take a soda can,
one that's still sealed,
and puncture it with a needle in the middle
along one side.
Be ready for a spray when you do this.
Then turn it over and let it drain.
Depending on what the soda is,
shaking it might make it drain faster
since it builds up pressure inside.
There's a little left in it but that's okay.
Dispose of the liquid however you want to.
Next, use the same needle to make a hole on
the opposite side too.
This next part it key.
Put the needle back in and pull it down like
this
so that it's tangential to the curve of the
can.
The direction that the needle is sticking
out
is the direction the steam will be jetting
out,
so you want to pull the needle perpendicular
to the length of the can.
Then rotate the can and do the identical thing
for the other hole.
The result is we now have a hole on this side
that will make the steam jet out this way,
and another hole on the other side
that will make the steam jet out this way.
To get our steam we first have to put some
water in the can.
I put the other hole under the tap and let
the water flow in.
We don't need much, and in fact, less is better.
Next, we need to suspend it somehow so that
it can rotate.
To do that I get out this lamp, and put a
tie strap on it.
Then a fishing swivel.
And finally a loop of string.
I put that loop under the tab of the can,
but make sure to not open the can in any way.
The only holes should be the one's I made
on the side.
Make the loop crosses this circle in the tab
since that's at the center.
Time to get it working.
You'll need a hot flame source.
This is a small alcohol burner that I use
with rubbing alcohol.
I made it from two more soda cans and a little
cotton rope.
I light it up,
and put it under the can.
It takes a little while for the small amount
of water
inside the can to heat up,
but after around 30 seconds I get steam coming
out the holes.
Note that due to the way I made the holes,
the steam comes out at an angle.
And the reaction to the steam here is to turn
the can this way,
causing rotation.
But even up to the point that all the water
has boiled away,
I get only this slight rotation.
So I get out the propane torch for more heat.
After putting water back in the can,
I try again.
After around 30 seconds heating it up,
it starts spinning.
Though it gets a little chaotic,
so I back off.
Watch out for the hot water flying out
when the can is spinning too fast.
From the top,
you can't see the steam coming out.
That's probably because of rising hot air
resulting from the torch flame,
but when I apply heat and remove the torch,
you can see the steam come out briefly
while it's still hot enough inside to produce
steam.
Well thanks for watching!
See my youtube channel, rimstarorg for more
neat videos like this.
That includes one on using a microwave oven
and water bottle
to produce a steam vacuum.
Another explaining what fire is.
And one on whether hot water or cold water
boils faster.
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See you soon!
