From Chief to Ball

"I asked a craftsman to make two and a half copper balls, which are hollow inside. When they are combined, the air inside is sucked out, and then the pressure of the atmosphere presses the two hemispheres, so that the two hemispheres are tightly connected. In this way, I am afraid that many horses cannot be pulled, and everyone will be amazed when they see it. However, when everyone is amazed, it only takes a child to open the plug blocking the air hole, and maybe a child can pull it open. This kind of comparison , do you think it is more shocking than the mercury tube?"

The senior brother let out a hey, squatted down and used a wooden stick to calculate the pressure per unit area converted from mercury, and praised: "This is really a good way, as long as the copper ball is slightly larger, as long as it can completely vacuum the inside, it is so big The power is really not something that a few horses can pull. It is not difficult to remove the air inside. You can put some water in the copper ball like the steam pump in the mine, let the water boil to drive the air out, and then If the heat seals the air vent, wouldn’t it be fine once it gets cold?”

This is beyond the expectations of Chen Jian's rigid mind. The vacuum steam pump in Nan'an Mine allows this brother to learn and use it flexibly. It is like a sealed can. It seems that the pump is not needed at all, and the effect is the same. , and may even be stronger than the current level of air extractors.

Probably this is the difference between those who are really suitable for this line of work and those who copy. Those who are really suitable for this line of work can always make keen use of what they already have to try, because there is no precedent to copy, so they must conform to the times and be inspired by the rest of the times just work.

For this reason, Chen Jian praised with admiration: "Brother's way of thinking is much better than mine."

"what do you think?"

"Puff it."

"How?"

"It's like the one-way valve of the bellows, except that the bellows is for blowing air, which uses a single-way valve to draw air. Make a brass cylinder, with a single-way valve on the ground, a piston for pumping air in the middle, and a piston on it. The air outlet hole. Pull it out hard, the one-way valve will open, and the air will be sucked away. When you push it back, the valve will close by itself, and then pump it again... It will probably take three or five people to do it slowly.”

The senior brother thought for a while, then groaned for a while and said: "Let's use your method. It's not that the steam cooling method is not good, but that you have other uses. I also want to test the effect of water in a vacuum and in normal times." What's the difference? According to what you said, this thing doesn't cost a lot of money, and it's still easy for craftsmen today to make."

"Well, it really doesn't cost much. Brass, wine barrel corks, and gum, or a special gum I heard in the southern rainforest, should be about the same. Brass can be directly cast by the lost wax method."

"At that time, try to get a few more horses first, the more the better. It's best to let people see that two children can easily open the hemisphere before you start, and then pump it, so the effect is better. To No, you're thinking about sensationalism, not real understanding of the world. If I had seen the mercury column experiment, I wouldn't have wasted my time making this brass ball. And the third lab ? You can’t just repeat what you’ve done before, right?”

Chen Jian quickly shook his head and said, "The third laboratory is definitely not repeating the things that have been tested in the past. You also know that when electricity passes through metal, it will generate heat; you also know that when you look into the inner chamber of a cannon, you use a red-hot gun. An iron hook sticks in to act as a light source; besides, you have seen experiments with electric candles, and electricity can indeed emit light, but electric candles are a bit like lightning.”

"So I wondered if it is possible to make electricity produce light, but it is not light like lightning, but light similar to a red-hot iron hook."

"One more thing, the light like an iron hook is not the same as the light like burning coal and firewood. Burning coal and burning firewood is burning, but the iron hook just burns red and generates heat. If electric heating is used to burn and emit light, it is the same as using Kerosene lamps make no difference."

Seeing his brother nodding there, Chen Jian continued, "So first of all, we have to pump out the air in the glass bottle to form an environment that cannot be burned, so that we can try to see if it can be directly powered on to emit light."

"I don't think this is difficult. I can't say how long it will last, but it should be possible. The second laboratory of the pump can do it. After it is done, it can not only pump air for the copper ball, but also give the The glass sucks."

"Glass blowing craftsmen, there are still some skilled masters in our glass workshop. It is a bit difficult to draw various metal wires, but you can use some soft things like gold and silver that can be used as foil. In addition, Carbon is also conductive, so I'm thinking about carbonizing it with very thin bamboo filaments."

"I don't want to sell, so how long it is on is not a problem, but whether it is on or not is the key."

"If this is successful, it will definitely be a big deal. Do you think that there is no open flame lighting at all, is it scary? Looking far away, electricity is also a valuable thing besides doing experiments. In the future, there will be many people Trying to use this thing. At the very least, if it can be made simpler, this kind of lamp without an open flame can be used in coal mines, which is safer than the current security lights. After all, that thing still has an open flame, at least every year. A few people died."

Speaking of this, the senior brother imagined that kind of magical electric light, obviously excited, and also aroused by Chen Jian, nodded and said: "This is a good idea. What about the fourth one?"

"The fourth one? You've seen experiments with electromagnets. I'm thinking about using electric stacks and electromagnets to make a kind of toy that transmits messages across walls. Only when electricity is energized will there be magnetism, and when electricity is not energized, there will be no magnetism. On the one hand, you can control the power on and off rhythmically, and on the other hand, you can judge what is being said here based on the rhythm."

Chen Jian added: "Copper wire or iron wire can be pulled now. It doesn't cost a lot of money to pull a distance of a hundred or ten steps. It costs a little money to get a big one connected together for electric piles. Eucommia glue or wood There is no problem with the electricity insulation of the paint, and the distance of a hundred steps can still be transmitted. The watchmaker can make a timer that moves forward at regular intervals. With a little modification, the paper strip can be pulled at a fixed speed, and the iron that is sucked can be stained. The paint falls according to a fixed rhythm, judging what to say according to the length... The only difficulty is how to unify this rhythm with the words to be written, which is a troublesome thing."

The brother who was aroused laughed and said: "Look, you just said that you are doing it for sensation rather than practicality. This question is very simple. You need to get more wires, more sets of devices, and more people. Bring rhythm. It’s not for practicality, why bother to think hard on one rhythm and one rhythm? The rhythm of one thread is troublesome. If you get ten threads, it will be much easier... At that time, after a hundred steps, The two sides are separated by a wall, and people can choose a few words to write on one side, and guess them on the other side, which will surely make people amazed one after another.”

Chen Jian patted his forehead, thinking that the electric light is really for sensational use, not practical, it is the light of the future.

But the cable telegraph has practical value and may shorten the distance in the real world.

Chapter 78 Artisans and laborers knock out the future

Experimentation and practicality are not the same thing. The former is to explain the world and plan for the future; the latter is to change the world and base itself on reality.

Most of the things that these large and small laboratories can produce are one-off, and it is impossible to promote them practically.But there are also some that can be completed and practical within ten or twenty years, which will greatly change the world.

If you want to take a path that is so shocking that people will feel that the world is really different from before, you can only take a slanted path.

Including previously planned and previously unplanned things, Chen Jian thought that there are many things that can be amazingly completed by craftsmen and labor.

Steam train models, buildings, flush toilets, experimental electric lights, rail carriages, paddle ship models, vulcanized rubber tires, human-assisted hydrogen balloon airships, experimental silver iodide silver bromide photography, biogas pits, experimental iron structure short bridges, Batteries and cable telegraphs, rubber-soled cloth shoes and rubber rain boots, homemade penicillin topical extracts, handmade thermos bottles at any cost, double-layer sandwich rolling bearings made by handcrafted craftsmen, experimental manual pumps with compressed air guns, vulcanized rubber men's rubber Sets, women's intrauterine rubber caps...

These are all practical, but not practical now, but point out a technical path for the future, and can also surprise all visitors to the greatest extent under the current technical level.

As for those practical technologies that are being researched and invested a lot of money and time, whether they can be successful in three to five years is not of great significance to that exhibition, so there is no need to appear in three to five years.

Improved steam engines, boring machines, nautical clocks, looms, horse-drawn ear cutters, etc. are things based on the actual technology and craftsman level, and can be promoted once they appear.And there is no need for promotion regardless of cost, capital will flow to these places spontaneously, thereby accelerating the transformation of economic relations.

The main craftsmen in various laboratories may not understand many reasons.The main young people in each laboratory are grown up in Nan'an School, Lanxiang School, etc., and have received systematic education in natural knowledge from textbooks written by Chen Jian.

These two kinds of people are united, trying to figure out what to do, not all of them need to know why, the one-off exhibits that Chen Jian imagined can be made at any cost, and many things are the research products that can be used practically by-product.

Some need three years, some don't need so long to try; some are just a layer of paper separated by a principle, and some know the principle but it is extremely troublesome to do it.It's all different.

Even though there are still many things to be resolved in Mincheng, Chen Jian still used two months to list the things in these plans one by one, and allocate them first according to the different time and strength required.And those things that can be produced as soon as possible without long-term experimentation as long as the raw materials are sufficient, the investment of money and effort can be postponed for a year or two-such as vulcanized rubber products and experimental silver iodide bromide photography.

What his senior brother said was right, he was not a person who really wanted to know the world, or he had already learned how to know it.

All he wanted was a sensation similar to a "miracle", an overkill that pushed science to some kind of "altar".

In the past two months, Mr. Mu's longing has been fulfilled. Except for the internal meetings that he must attend, he can almost be regarded as ignoring the outside world, closing himself in the room, and writing all kinds of miraculous skills within three years. A kinky novelty.

There are difficulties and there are easy ones.

For example, flushing toilets, this is relatively simple to explain, and it is not troublesome to do.

Simple buoy, ball valve, buoyancy lever, inlet pipe plus outlet pipe.Followed by some simple notes that young graduates can understand, such as the conversion of potential energy and kinetic energy.If you can get out vulcanized rubber-fitted leather rafters, hog bristle brushes, and the like, that's perfectly usable.

For example, the experimental thermos, which is handmade at any cost, is not difficult, but it is a bit troublesome to explain.

The manual vacuum pump that appeared together with the vacuum copper ball experiment and the carbon filament electric lamp can ensure that the air between the two layers of glass is basically sucked clean.The existing silver-plating technology for mirrors is not a big problem after trying to get silver-plated inner glass, it is nothing more than trying to get silver.Not to mention the cork, this is even less difficult.

However, it is not difficult to do it, but it is very troublesome to explain it, and it requires a whole set of cooperation.

The purpose is not that the craftsmen can understand it, but that those young people who participated in this experiment who have been educated in schools and are currently working as laboratory helpers can understand what is happening and why.

For this reason, he also needs to explain the three heat transfer processes from the shallower to the deeper in the instructions for making the thermos.For the time being, there is no need to explain the random movement of molecules and the like, but only three different forms need to be summed up.

conduction, radiation, convection.

Conduction can be explained by boiling wine in a tin pot and drinking tea in a porcelain cup. At the same time, it can be concluded that this is a way of heat transfer.

In addition, it has been proved before that the existence of air, vacuum and invisible air are not the same thing. This kind of content that has been experimented eight years ago and has been written into some natural common sense textbooks controlled by the party, by This explains why the air in the glass interlayer is taken away.

Radiation can be explained by the temperature of the same thing of two different colors, white and black, exposed to the sun, or by adding reflections from mirrors, and iron hooks can feel heat without burning red. Heat may not be visible, but it may also be light. Things not seen etc.From this, to explain why it is silver-plated and reflective inside like a mirror.

What convection needs to explain is the problem of the plug. This is much simpler. Kongming lanterns have been played for hundreds of years. Fill a glass bottle with water and wood chips and heat it on the stove to observe the up and down convection.This explains why a cork is added.

After these time-consuming and labor-intensive tasks are completed, the young people involved should learn a lot and understand a lot of why.

A lot of problems can also be derived from the hot water bottle. Give some examples as questions, let them think about whether it is conduction, radiation or convection, or let them observe the rest of the heat conduction methods in nature to see if there is any other way besides the three generalized ones. There are other ways besides this one, and by the way, let them understand more intuitively what is called an inductive concept.

Of course, things like wired telegraphs and carbon filament lamps are simple to explain, but extremely troublesome to operate in practice, requiring a huge amount of time to try.

In addition to these kinds of things that are either extremely simple to explain and operate, or difficult to operate and explain, there are some things that do not need to be explained or are not clearly explained, or the meaning of the explanation is far less meaningful than the actual operation. thing.

For example, the model of a steam train sounds scary, but with the current technical level of these craftsmen, it is not difficult to make various parts.