- Mercury Barometer
- Vacuum Pump
- Pendulum Clock
- Robert Boyle
Mercury Barometer
The Mercury Barometer was my favorite invention this week because it has a pretty interesting story about the spread of the idea and and it’s invention. Here is the story:
In the mines, the mine shafts would fill with water. The miners tried to pump the water out, but ran into a problem. The water could only be pumped about 32ft. Someone asked Galileo about the problem, but he didn’t do much about it. However, his assistant, Torricelli, decided to figure out this problem. He built a mini mine system with mercury, which ended up as the barometer. The space, or the 32-foot point, started a vacuum (an empty area with no matter) the model (or the mines). The vacuum started where the fluid pressure is the same as the air pressure around it. Torricelli sent a letter, and the idea eventually got to Pascal. He did a few experiments, and sent a letter to his brother-in law and he did some experiments. All these public displays spread word to lots of other people. So that is how it spread, and was invented.
The barometer helps detect hi and low pressure systems, which can help show what weather is coming. This started interest in meteorology. Latter, someone rubbed the barometer and it glowed, due to static electricity. This made people like Newton have interest in electricity, and go on to be great inventors.
Vacuum Pump
Otto Von Guericke also got word of the Mercury Barometer, and the idea of the vacuum with it. He invented the vacuum pump. The vacuum pump was built to suck air out of an area, such as a dome. You could put stuff in the globe, and remove the air pressure from around it.
Pendulum Clock
Galileo first had the idea about a Pendulum Clock, but he just never got to it. He gave it to his son, but he didn’t do much with it. Christiaan Huygens took Galileo’s idea. He made a design, and had a clock maker build it. It became one of the most popular clocks, and is still used today. It was only off by 15 seconds each day, making it possible to do scientific work.
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle is remembered for being one of the founding fathers of chemistry. He became a member of the invisible collage, an organization that was trying to figure out nature. He was a “natural philosopher” or chemist before the word was around.