Steam power

Steam power

Water wheels had 2 disadvantages:
1. They had to be near water
  1. It was seasonal
Newcomen's steam pump
1. This used steam and atmospheric pressure. It pumped water out of mines, however, constantly cooling and reheating the cylinder wasted energy and sometimes caused it to explode
James watt's steam engine
1. Watt used a separate cylinder for condensing so less energy was wasted and the engine was less likely to explode
  1. Watt also added the sun and planet Gearing system which converted the up/down action into a circular motion
    1. The engine could now be used to operate factory machinery, replacing water wheels
Steam engines transformed industry by:
1. You no longer had to build factories near a water source
  1. You could transform your goods very easily
    1. Higher efficiency
      1. People could get places easily
Steam power was more expensive than water power and it meant that factories tended to bear near a source of coal
1. Smoke caused pollution and factory owners needed to maximise labour whilst the engine was running, hence the long hours and short breaks

Resource summary

	Created by cosimamartus over 10 years ago