DATABASE NOTES: This is a database of display text for hotspots and areas. The delineation characters are as follows: £ - beginnning of database; ¶ - end of index, beginning of label; º - end of label, beginning of description; • - end of description, beginning of instructions; ^ - end of instructions, beginning of next data record. For the purpose of locating specific lines, no blank lines are to exist in the database. -- update: description text was moved to instruction text where there was no instruction text.
£
1,#QTVR,#FRAME,DBLSTEAM
(Iron doors opening animation to Explorable Object: Double-Acting Steam Engine)
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Label:
FULL-SIZE DOUBLE - ACTING STEAM ENGINE (1782)
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Description:
Although Watt worked on models of steam engines in his workshop, the actual engines were so large they had to be built on the site where they were being used. Through creating the double-acting engine, Watt developed a new method of moving the piston up and down using parallel beams. This movement was called parallel motion. In 1808 Watt wrote that he was prouder of inventing a way to produce parallel motion than any of his other inventions. One of Watt's double-acting engines can be found behind these doors.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To examine the engine:
1. Click on the beam at the top of the engine to start or stop the engine.
2. The magnifying glass cursor will show you places you can zoom in on parts of the engine.
3. The reveal cursor will show you places where you can look inside the engine.
Related Investigations:
Gears
Heat & Temperature
^
2,#QTVR,#FRAME,STEAMENGINE
(Explorable Object: Modified Newcomen Steam Engine Nav. Movie & Background PICT)
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Label:
MODEL OF MODIFIED NEWCOMEN STEAM ENGINE (CIRCA 1765)
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Description:
Although James Watt did not invent the first steam engine, he did invent the first efficient steam engine, which helped bring about the Industrial Revolution.
Watt started working on steam engines in 1763, when he was asked to repair a model of a steam engine developed by Thomas Newcomen. In a stroke of genius, Watt realized that the engine would work better if it had a separate chamber for condensing steam. This engine, which had a separate condenser, used 70% less fuel than Newcomen's engines.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To examine the engine:
1. Click and hold down the mouse button to turn the engine in different directions. Let go to stop turning.
2. Click on the beam at the top of the engine to operate the engine.
3. The reveal cursor will show you places where you can look inside the engine.
Related Investigations:
Gears
Heat & Temperature
^
3,#DESK,#PICT,WDIAGRM.PIC
(Steam Engine Diagram on Wall)
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Label:
STEAM ENGINE ETCHING (CIRCA 1800)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Watt's engines led to the creation of a new unit for measuring work, called horsepower. This unit is still used today.
Originally, companies rented Watt's engines and were charged a rate based on how much money the company saved using a Watt engine instead of an earlier engine. However, some companies, such as textile mills, had been using horses, rather than steam engines, as a source of power. So Watt invented the unit of horsepower, which was based on the amount of work a horse could perform in one minute.
^
4,#DESK,#PICT,WMAP.PIC
(Survey Map on Wall)
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Label:
SURVEY MAP
(CIRCA 1772)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To make money during the early years of his work on steam engines, Watt also worked as a land surveyor and civil engineer in Scotland and England. One of his tasks was to construct survey maps such as this.
^
5,#PRESS,#PICT,WPHOTO1.PIC
(Etching of Glasgow)
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Label:
ETCHING OF GLASGOW
(CIRCA MID-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
James Watt lived in Glasgow for a number of years, and had a workshop in a room at the University of Glasgow. In May 1765, Watt was taking a Sunday stroll through Glasgow Green (one of Glasgow's parks) when he came up with the idea of using a separate condenser in a steam engine.
^
6,#DESK,#FRAME,PATENTS
(Flat File Cabinet)
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Label:
WATT'S PATENT FILE
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Although Watt spent many years inventing refinements for the steam engine, he only held six patents.
This file cabinet contains some of the original patents for devices that Watt invented. Watt wrote up the specifications and created the drawings for all his patents.
^
7,#DESK,#PICT,WTLSCP.PIC
(Telescope)
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Label:
TELESCOPE
(CIRCA MID-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Telescopes were regularly used for surveying in the mid-1700s. Around 1771, while Watt was working as a surveyor, he invented a "telemeter" that allowed surveyors to use a telescope to easily measure the distance between two points. Unfortunately, another inventor received the patent for a similar device several years later.
^
8,#DESK,#AREA,DESK,11,WDESKAMB.AIF
(Desk Area view)
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Label:
WATT'S DESK
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
9,#PRESS,#FRAME,ROLLERPRESS
(Duplicating Press Area & QT movie)
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Label:
WATT'S ROLLER COPYING PRESS FOR LETTERS (1770)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Watt's copying press was the first device that allowed people to make exact copies of hand-written documents, such as letters. The original letter was written using a special ink. Then a sheet of thin, wet paper was placed on top of the letter. Both sheets of paper were placed on the duplicating press. When the papers passed through the rollers, the ink from the original was absorbed by the wet paper. The words on the copied letter were backwards so the duplicate was read through the back side of the paper.
^
10,#PRESS,#AREA,PRESS,3,WDPRESS.AIF
(Duplicating Press Area)
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Label:
DUPLICATING PRESS APPARATUS
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
11,#HEARTH,#TEXT
(Minerals Chest)
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Label:
CHEST OF MINERALS
(CIRCA 1790)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Watt kept boxes of minerals in his workshop at his Heathfield home to use in his experiments. The minerals he worked with included lead, limestone, manganese, copper, gypsum, gold, and iron.
^
12,#HEARTH,#FRAME,TEAKETTLE
(Tea Kettle animation & background)
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Label:
TEAKETTLE (CIRCA 1764)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
After Watt created his steam engine, a story was started that Watt had realized the power of steam by watching a steaming teakettle when he was a boy. This was not true, although several well-known artists created paintings illustrating this "important event."
It is true, however, that Watt did use a teakettle when he experimented with heat in the 1760s. These experiments played an important role in Watt's development of the steam engine.
^
13,#HEARTH,#TEXT
(Swage Hammer)
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Label:
SWAGE HAMMER, ANVIL, AND FLAT-BIT TONGS (CIRCA MID-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
These three tools were used to shape and work metal objects. The hammer, also called a rounding hammer, was used to round the ends of metal pins and rods. The anvil had a groove in it to help shape the metal. The tongs were used to move objects into and out of very hot fire.
^
14,#HEARTH,#TEXT
(Flat bit Tongs)
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Label:
SWAGE HAMMER, ANVIL, AND FLAT-BIT TONGS (CIRCA MID-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
These three tools were used to shape and work metal objects. The hammer, also called a rounding hammer, was used to round the ends of metal pins and rods. The anvil had a groove in it to help shape the metal. The tongs were used to move objects into and out of very hot fire.
^
15,#HEARTH,#TEXT
(Anvil)
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Label:
SWAGE HAMMER, ANVIL, AND FLAT-BIT TONGS (CIRCA MID-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
These three tools were used to shape and work metal objects. The hammer, also called a rounding hammer, was used to round the ends of metal pins and rods. The anvil had a groove in it to help shape the metal. The tongs were used to move objects into and out of very hot fire.
^
16,#HEARTH,#FRAME,BELLOWS
(Bellows movie)
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Label:
BELLOWS
(CIRCA MID-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bellows, such as these, send out streams of air. They were often used to increase the heat of a fire.
^
17,#HEARTH,#AREA,HEARTH,6,WHRTHAMB.AIF
(Hearth Area view & Hearth movie)
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Label:
HEARTH AND FOUNDRY
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
18,#ENGINE,#FRAME,ENGINE,0,"Silence"
(Build It Yourself: Experimental Engine)
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Label:
EXPERIMENTAL STEAM ENGINE EXPERIMENT (CIRCA 1765)
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Description:
One of Watt's greatest achievements was to create a steam-powered piston engine that had a separate chamber for condensing steam. It took close to 10 years for Watt and his partners to produce and sell the first working engine of this type.
A key part of the design was finding the correct size of condenser to use with a particular piston cylinder. This experiment tests how the size of the condenser and the length and diameter of the piston cylinder affect the amount of work the engine can do.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To test an engine:
1. Click on the condenser you wish to test.
2. Click on the piston cylinder you wish to test.
3. Click on the coal bucket to start the boiler. The most powerful and efficient engine will lift the weight the highest.
4. To test a new combination of condenser and cylinder, click on the new condenser and/or cylinder you wish to test.
Related Investigations:
Gears
Heat & Temperature
^
19,#QTVR,#FRAME,PGAUGE
(Pressure Guage movie & background PICT)
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Label:
STEAM INDICATOR
(CIRCA 1794)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Around 1790, Watt invented an instrument he called a "steam indicator." The gauge was used to measure changes in pressure during one stroke of a steam engine. Later gauges had a pencil instead of a pointer, so the changes in pressure could be recorded on a sheet of paper.
^
20,#ENGINE,#PICT,WMCRMTR.PIC
(Micrometer)
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Label:
MICROMETER
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Micrometers are used to measure the width of objects. The object is placed between the two ends of the clamp. Then the dials are turned until the ends of the clamp just touch the object. The measurements are then read off the dial settings.
^
21,#GEARS,#FRAME,GEARS
(Activity: Sun and Planet Gear Systems)
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Label:
ROTARY ENGINE GEAR SYSTEMS (1781)
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Description:
Originally, Watt's steam engines were used only to pump water out of mines. Watt's business partner, an Englishman named Matthew Boulton, suggested that Watt improve the engines so they could be used to operate factory machines.
Watt had to find a way to convert the up-and-down motion of the steam-engine piston into circular, or rotary, motion. In 1781 Watt patented a rotary engine that included designs for several different gear systems that produced this rotary motion.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To see how the gears work:
1. Click on one of the gear sets on the rack behind the table, and drag the gear to the beam of the machine.
2. Click on the foot pedal to start or stop the machine.
3. The magnifying glass cursor will show you where you can see a close-up of how the gears operate.
4. To try another set of gears, click and drag the new set you wish to use to the beam. Then click on the foot pedal again.
Related Investigation:
Gears
^
22,#QTVR,#TEXT,WBAGPIPE.AIF
Sound effect only (being created), no text (Window pane)
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Label:
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
23,#QTVR,#frame,Insit
(James Watt videos in-situ)
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Label:
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
24,#QTVR,#PICT,WDIAGRM2.PIC
(Steam Engine Diagram on Wall)
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Label:
DOUBLE-ACTING ENGINE PATENT DRAWING (1782)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Watt came up with the idea for his double-acting engine seven years before he drew this patent sketch. However, he didn't build a double-acting engine until a year after the patent was filed.
^
25,#SCULPTURE,#FRAME,SCULPTURE
(AREA: Proportional Sculpting Machine Area)
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Label:
PROPORTIONAL SCULPTURING MACHINE (CIRCA 1818)
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Description:
Watt invented this sculpturing machine to make exact duplicates of sculptures in different sizes.
The original sculpture is placed in one end of the machine and a block of material is placed in the other end. The foot pedal turns a flywheel, which rotates the head and block. A rod called a feeler moves over the original head. As the feeler moves up and down over the cut ridges of the original, it guides a drill up and down over the block. The drill carves out the block to make the duplicate.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To use the sculpturing machine:
1. Click on the block of stone on the table under the window.
2. Click on the foot pedal to start or stop the machine.
3. The magnifying glass cursor will show you where you can see a close-up of how the machine carves the duplicate head.
Related Investigation:
Gears
^
26,#SCULPTURE,#PICT,WSCHDZM1.PIC
(Close-up PICT of carved head)
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Label:
SCULPTURED BUST
(CIRCA EARLY 1800s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Watt made duplicates of different sculptures that he kept in his workshop. These included busts of Socrates, Aristotle, Sappho, and Adam Smith. Watt also liked to make duplicates of a bust of himself carved by Sir Francis Chantrey, one of the most celebrated sculptors of the time.
^
27,#SCULPTURE,#PICT,WSCSTN.PIC
(Stone close-up PICT)
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Label:
PARTIALLY CARVED STONE BLOCK (CIRCA EARLY 1800s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
One of Watt's inventions was a device that could make duplicates of sculptures. Watt used many different materials for his duplicated sculptures, including marble, alabaster, concrete, granite, ivory, and wood. This is a partially finished carved head made out of stone.
^
28,#DESK,#PICT,WDVDRS.PIC
(Dividers)
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Label:
DIVIDERS
(circa mid-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Dividers were first used by Roman masons and carpenters to draw circles and transfer measurements. Watt used instruments like these to create engineering and patent drawings.
^
29,#DESK,#PICT,WETUI.PIC
(Etui)
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Label:
SET OF MATHEMATICAL INSTRUMENTS
(circa 1755)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Watt began his career in London in 1755, where he served as an apprentice instrument maker. His job was to repair and produce mathematical instruments such as these. In 1757 Watt returned to Scotland and became the Mathematical Instrument Maker to the College of Glasgow.
^
31,#DESK,#PICT,WCOMPASS.PIC
(Magnetic Compass)
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Label:
MAGNETIC COMPASS
(circa mid-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
The first magnetic compasses were developed in China and Arabia. These compasses used the principle that a floating magnetized needle always points in the same direction. Watt used compasses similar to this when he worked as a surveyor and civil engineer during the early 1770s.
^
32,#DESK,#FRAME,SCRAPBOOK
(Scrapbook)
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Label:
WATT'S SCRAPBOOK
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
James Watt was born on January 19, 1736, in Greenock, Scotland. Watt invented the first efficient steam engine, which was one of the most important technological advances of the eighteenth century. In addition to being an inventor, Watt was an surveyor, a mathematical instrument maker, an engineer, and a chemist. During his lifetime he created a myriad of devices including a copying machine, a drawing machine, new surveying instruments, and an early calculating device. He died in Birmingham, England, on August 19, 1819.
This scrapbook contains illustrations and paintings of some of the important people, places, and events in Watt's life.
^
33,#DESK,#PICT,WOCTANT.PIC
(Octant)
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Label:
OCTANT
(circa mid-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
One of Watt's jobs as an instrument maker was to repair instruments such as this octant. Octants were used for navigation at sea. They allowed people to determine latitude-the distance north or south from the equator. Watt also made improvements to another measuring device created by John Hadley, called the Hadley's quadrant.
^
34,#DESK,#PICT,WPRLBRD.PIC
(Parallel Rules)
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Label:
PARALLEL RULES
(circa mid-1700s)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
One of Watt's first tasks as an apprentice mathematical instrument maker in London was to make a brass parallel rule similar to this one. In Watt's time, precision instruments of this kind were highly valued because they were difficult to make.
^
35,#DESK,#FRAME,PATENTS
(Watt's Patents)
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Label:
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
36,#SCULPTURE,#FRAME,ACTSCULPTURE
(Activity: Proportional Sculpting Machine Area)
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Label:
PROPORTIONAL SCULPTURING MACHINE (circa 1818)
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Description:
Watt invented this sculpturing machine to make exact duplicates of sculptures in different sizes.
The original sculpture is placed in one end of the machine and a block of material is placed in the other end. The foot pedal turns a flywheel, which rotates the head and block. A rod called a feeler moves over the original head. As the feeler moves up and down over the cut ridges of the original, it guides a drill up and down over the block. The drill carves out the block to make the duplicate.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To use the sculpturing machine:
1. Click on the head on the table under the window.
2. Click on the foot pedal to start or stop the machine.
3. The magnifying glass cursor will show you where you can see a close-up of how the machine drills the duplicate head.
Related Investigation:
Gears
^
100,#QTVR,#TEXT,EDISON
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
In order to explore the lab of Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell call 1-800-829-7962 or order from http://www.hminet.com. Also available from all good software stores.
^
101,#QTVR,#TEXT,WATT
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┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
102,#QTVR,#TEXT,BELL
┬╢
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
In order to explore the lab of Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell call 1-800-829-7962 or order from http://www.hminet.com. Also available from all good software stores.
