WHY THE WIND BLOWS.
Why the wind blows--Land and sea breezes--Light air and
moisture--The barometer--The column barometer--The wheel
barometer--A very simple barometer--The aneroid
barometer--Barometers and weather--The diving-bell--The
diving-dress--Air-pumps--Pneumatic tyres--The air-gun--The
self-closing door-stop--The action of wind on oblique surfaces--The
balloon--The flying-machine.
When a child's rubber ball gets slack through a slight leakage of air,
and loses some of its bounce, it is a common practice to hold it for a
few minutes in front of the fire till it becomes temporarily taut again.
Why does the heat have this effect on the ball? No more air has been
forced into the ball. After perusing the chapter on the steam-engine the
reader will be able to supply the answer. "Because the molecules of air
dash about more vigorously among one another when the air is heated, and
by striking the inside of the ball with greater force put it in a state
of greater tension."
If we heat an open jar there is no pressure developed, since the air
simply expands and flows out of the neck. But the air that remains in
the jar, being less in quantity than when it was not yet heated, weighs
less, though occupying the same space as before. If we took a very thin
bladder and filled it with hot air it would therefore float in colder
air, proving that heated air, as we should expect, _tends to rise_. The
fire-balloon employs this principle, the air inside the bag being kept
artificially warm by a fire burning in some vessel attached below the
open neck of the bag.
Now, the sun shines with different degrees of heating power at different
parts of the world. Where its effect is greatest the air there is
hottest. We will suppose, for the sake of argument, that, at a certain
moment, the air envelope all round the globe is of equal temperature.
Suddenly the sun shines out and heats the air at a point, A, till it is
many degrees warmer than the surrounding air. The heated air expands,
rises, and spreads out above the cold air. But, as a given depth of warm
air has less weight than an equal depth of cold air, the cold air at
once begins to rush towards B and squeeze the rest of the warm air out.
We may therefore picture the atmosphere as made up of a number of
colder currents passing along the surface of the earth to replace warm
currents rising and spreading over the upper surface of the cold air. A
similar circulation takes place in a vessel of heated water (see p. 17).
LAND AND SEA BREEZES.
A breeze which blows from the sea on to the land during the day often
reverses its direction during the evening. Why is this? The earth grows
hot or cold more rapidly than the sea. When the sun shines hotly, the
land warms quickly and heats the air over it, which becomes light, and
is displaced by the cooler air over the sea. When the sun sets, the
earth and the air over it lose their warmth quickly, while the sea
remains at practically the same temperature as before. So the balance is
changed, the heavier air now lying over the land. It therefore flows
seawards, and drives out the warmer air there.
LIGHT AIR AND MOISTURE.
Light, warm air absorbs moisture. As it cools, the moisture in it
condenses. Breathe on a plate, and you notice that a watery film forms
on it at once. The cold surface condenses the water suspended in the
warm breath. If you wish to dry a damp room you heat it. Moisture then
passes from the walls and objects in the room to the atmosphere.
THE BAROMETER.
This property of air is responsible for the changes in weather. Light,
moisture-laden air meets cold, dry air, and the sudden cooling forces it
to release its moisture, which falls as rain, or floats about as clouds.
If only we are able to detect the presence of warm air-strata above us,
we ought to be in a position to foretell the weather.
We can judge of the specific gravity of the air in our neighbourhood by
means of the barometer, which means "weight-measurer." The normal
air-pressure at sea-level on our bodies or any other objects is about 15
lbs. to the square inch--that is to say, if you could imprison and weigh
a column of air one inch square in section and of the height of the
world's atmospheric envelope, the scale would register 15 lbs. Many
years ago (1643) Torricelli, a pupil of Galileo, first calculated the
pressure by a very simple experiment. He took a long glass tube sealed
at one end, filled it with mercury, and, closing the open end with the
thumb, inverted the tube and plunged the open end below the surface of a
tank of mercury. On removing his thumb he found that the mercury sank in
the tube till the surface of the mercury in the tube was about 30 inches
in a vertical direction above the surface of the mercury in the tank.
Now, as the upper end was sealed, there must be a vacuum _above_ the
mercury. What supported the column? The atmosphere. So it was evident
that the downward pressure of the mercury exactly counterbalanced the
upward pressure of the air. As a mercury column 30 inches high and 1
inch square weighs 15 lbs., the air-pressure on a square inch obviously
is the same.
[Illustration: FIG. 152.--A Fortin barometer.]
FORTIN'S COLUMN BAROMETER
is a simple Torricellian tube, T, with the lower end submerged in a
little glass tank of mercury (Fig. 152). The bottom of this tank is made
of washleather. To obtain a "reading" the screw S, pressing on the
washleather, is adjusted until the mercury in the tank rises to the tip
of the little ivory point P. The reading is the figure of the scale on
the face of the case opposite which the surface of the column stands.
[Illustration: FIG. 153.]
THE WHEEL BAROMETER
also employs the mercury column (Fig. 153). The lower end of the tube is
turned up and expanded to form a tank, C. The pointer P, which travels
round a graduated dial, is mounted on a spindle carrying a pulley, over
which passes a string with a weight at each end. The heavier of the
weights rests on the top of the mercury. When the atmospheric pressure
falls, the mercury in C rises, lifting this weight, and the pointer
moves. This form of barometer is not so delicate or reliable as
Fortin's, or as the siphon barometer, which has a tube of the same shape
as the wheel instrument, but of the same diameter from end to end
except for a contraction at the bend. The reading of a siphon is the
distance between the two surfaces of the mercury.
A VERY SIMPLE BAROMETER
is made by knocking off the neck of a small bottle, filling the body
with water, and hanging it up by a string in the position shown (Fig.
154). When the atmospheric pressure falls, the water at the orifice
bulges outwards; when it rises, the water retreats till its surface is
slightly concave.
[Illustration: FIG. 154.]
THE ANEROID BAROMETER.
On account of their size and weight, and the comparative difficulty of
transporting them without derangement of the mercury column, column
barometers are not so generally used as the aneroid variety. Aneroid
means "without moisture," and in this particular connection signifies
that no liquid is used in the construction of the barometer.
Fig. 155 shows an aneroid in detail. The most noticeable feature is the
vacuum chamber, V C, a circular box which has a top and bottom of
corrugated but thin and elastic metal. Sections of the box are shown in
Figs. 156, 157. It is attached at the bottom to the base board of the
instrument by a screw (Fig. 156). From the top rises a pin, P, with a
transverse hole through it to accommodate the pin K E, which has a
triangular section, and stands on one edge.
[Illustration: FIG. 155.--An aneroid barometer.]
Returning to Fig. 155, we see that P projects through S, a powerful
spring of sheet-steel. To this is attached a long arm, C, the free end
of which moves a link rotating, through the pin E, a spindle mounted in
a frame, D. The spindle moves arm F. This pulls on a very minute chain
wound round the pointer spindle B, in opposition to a hairspring, H S. B
is mounted on arm H, which is quite independent of the rest of the
aneroid.
[Illustration: FIG. 156. FIG. 157. The vacuum chamber of an aneroid
barometer extended and compressed.]
The vacuum chamber is exhausted during manufacture and sealed. It would
naturally assume the shape of Fig. 157, but the spring S, acting against
the atmospheric pressure, pulls it out. As the pressure varies, so does
the spring rise or sink; and the slightest movement is transmitted
through the multiplying arms C, E, F, to the pointer.
A good aneroid is so delicate that it will register the difference in
pressure caused by raising it from the floor to the table, where it has
a couple of feet less of air-column resting upon it. An aneroid is
therefore a valuable help to mountaineers for determining their altitude
above sea-level.
BAROMETERS AND WEATHER.
We may now return to the consideration of forecasting the weather by
movements of the barometer. The first thing to keep in mind is, that the
instrument is essentially a _weight_ recorder. How is weather connected
with atmospheric weight?
In England the warm south-west wind generally brings wet weather, the
north and east winds fine weather; the reason for this being that the
first reaches us after passing over the Atlantic and picking up a
quantity of moisture, while the second and third have come overland and
deposited their moisture before reaching us.
A sinking of the barometer heralds the approach of heated air--that is,
moist air--which on meeting colder air sheds its moisture. So when the
mercury falls we expect rain. On the other hand, when the "glass" rises,
we know that colder air is coming, and as colder air comes from a dry
quarter we anticipate fine weather. It does not follow that the same
conditions are found in all parts of the world. In regions which have
the ocean to the east or the north, the winds blowing thence would be
the rainy winds, while south-westerly winds might bring hot and dry
weather.
THE DIVING-BELL.
Water is nearly 773 times as heavy as air. If we submerge a barometer a
very little way below the surface of a water tank, we shall at once
observe a rise of the mercury column. At a depth of 34 feet the pressure
on any submerged object is 15 lbs. to the square inch, in addition to
the atmospheric pressure of 15 lbs. per square inch--that is, there
would be a 30-lb. _absolute_ pressure. As a rule, when speaking of
hydraulic pressures, we start with the normal atmospheric pressure as
zero, and we will here observe the practice.
[Illustration: FIG. 158.--A diving bell.]
The diving-bell is used to enable people to work under water without
having recourse to the diving-dress. A sketch of an ordinary
diving-bell is given in Fig. 158. It may be described as a square iron
box without a bottom. At the top are links by which it is attached to a
lowering chain, and windows, protected by grids; also a nozzle for the
air-tube.
[Illustration: FIG. 159.]
A simple model bell (Fig. 159) is easily made out of a glass tumbler
which has had a tap fitted in a hole drilled through the bottom. We turn
off the tap and plunge the glass into a vessel of water. The water rises
a certain way up the interior, until the air within has been compressed
to a pressure equal to that of the water at the level of the surface
inside. The further the tumbler is lowered, the higher does the water
rise inside it.
Evidently men could not work in a diving-bell which is invaded thus by
water. It is imperative to keep the water at bay. This we can do by
attaching a tube to the tap (Fig. 160) and blowing into the tumbler till
the air-pressure exceeds that of the water, which is shown by bubbles
rising to the surface. The diving-bell therefore has attached to it a
hose through which air is forced by pumps from the atmosphere above, at
a pressure sufficient to keep the water out of the bell. This pumping of
air also maintains a fresh supply of oxygen for the workers.
[Illustration: FIG. 160.]
Inside the bell is tackle for grappling any object that has to be moved,
such as a heavy stone block. The diving-bell is used mostly for laying
submarine masonry. "The bell, slung either from a crane on the masonry
already built above sea-level, or from a specially fitted barge, comes
into action. The block is lowered by its own crane on to the bottom. The
bell descends upon it, and the crew seize it with tackle suspended
inside the bell. Instructions are sent up as to the direction in which
the bell should be moved with its burden, and as soon as the exact spot
has been reached the signal for lowering is given, and the stone settles
on to the cement laid ready for it."[34]
For many purposes it is necessary that the worker should have more
freedom of action than is possible when he is cooped up inside an iron
box. Hence the invention of the
DIVING-DRESS,
which consists of two main parts, the helmet and the dress proper. The
helmet (Fig. 161) is made of copper. A breastplate, B, shaped to fit the
shoulders, has at the neck a segmental screw bayonet-joint. The
headpiece is fitted with a corresponding screw, which can be attached or
removed by one-eighth of a turn. The neck edge of the dress, which is
made in one piece, legs, arms, body and all, is attached to the
breastplate by means of the plate P^1, screwed down tightly on it by
the wing-nuts N N, the bolts of which pass through the breastplate. Air
enters the helmet through a valve situated at the back, and is led
through tubes along the inside to the front. This valve closes
automatically if any accident cuts off the air supply, and encloses
sufficient air in the dress to allow the diver to regain the surface.
The outlet valve O V can be adjusted by the diver to maintain any
pressure. At the sides of the headpiece are two hooks, H, over which
pass the cords connecting the heavy lead weights of 40 lbs. each hanging
on the diver's breast and back. These weights are also attached to the
knobs K K. A pair of boots, having 17 lbs. of lead each in the soles,
complete the dress. Three glazed windows are placed in the headpiece,
that in the front, R W, being removable, so that the diver may gain free
access to the air when he is above water without being obliged to take
off the helmet.
[Illustration: FIG. 161.--A diver's helmet.]
By means of telephone wires built into the life-line (which passes
under the diver's arms and is used for lowering and hoisting) easy
communication is established between the diver and his attendants above.
The transmitter of the telephone is placed inside the helmet between the
front and a side window, the receiver and the button of an electric bell
in the crown. This last he can press by raising his head. The life-line
sometimes also includes the wires for an electric lamp (Fig. 162) used
by the diver at depths to which daylight cannot penetrate.
The pressure on a diver's body increases in the ratio of 4-1/3 lbs. per
square inch for every 10 feet that he descends. The ordinary working
limit is about 150 feet, though "old hands" are able to stand greater
pressures. The record is held by one James Hooper, who, when removing
the cargo of the _Cape Horn_ sunk off the South American coast, made
seven descents of 201 feet, one of which lasted for forty-two minutes.
[Illustration: FIG. 162.--Diver's electric lamp.]
A sketch is given (Fig. 163) of divers working below water with
pneumatic tools, fed from above with high-pressure air. Owing to his
buoyancy a diver has little depressing or pushing power, and he cannot
bore a hole in a post with an auger unless he is able to rest his back
against some firm object, or is roped to the post. Pneumatic chipping
tools merely require holding to their work, their weight offering
sufficient resistance to the very rapid blows which they make.
[Illustration: FIG. 163.--Divers at work below water with pneumatic
tools.]
AIR-PUMPS.
[Illustration: FIG. 164.]
[Illustration: FIG. 165.]
Mention having been made of the air-pump, we append diagrams (Figs. 164,
165) of the simplest form of air-pump, the cycle tyre inflator. The
piston is composed of two circular plates of smaller diameter than the
barrel, holding between them a cup leather. During the upstroke the cup
collapses inwards and allows air to pass by it. On the downstroke (Fig.
165) the edges of the cup expand against the barrel, preventing the
passage of air round the piston. A double-action air-pump requires a
long, well-fitting piston with a cup on each side of it, and the
addition of extra valves to the barrel, as the cups under these
circumstances cannot act as valves.
PNEUMATIC TYRES.
[Illustration: FIG. 166.]
[Illustration: FIG. 167.]
The action of the pneumatic tyre in reducing vibration and increasing
the speed of a vehicle is explained by Figs. 166, 167. When the tyre
encounters an obstacle, such as a large stone, it laps over it (Fig.
166), and while supporting the weight on the wheel, reduces the
deflection of the direction of movement. When an iron-tyred wheel meets
a similar obstacle it has to rise right over it, often jumping a
considerable distance into the air. The resultant motions of the wheel
are indicated in each case by an arrow. Every change of direction means
a loss of forward velocity, the loss increasing with the violence and
extent of the change. The pneumatic tyre also scores because, on account
of its elasticity, it gives a "kick off" against the obstacle, which
compensates for the resistance during compression.
[Illustration: FIG. 168.--Section of the mechanism of an air-gun.]
THE AIR-GUN.
This may be described as a valveless air-pump. Fig. 168 is a section of
a "Gem" air-gun, with the mechanism set ready for firing. In the stock
of the gun is the _cylinder_, in which an accurately fitting and hollow
_piston_ moves. A powerful helical spring, turned out of a solid bar of
steel, is compressed between the inside end of the piston and the upper
end of the butt. To set the gun, the _catch_ is pressed down so that its
hooked end disengages from the stock, and the barrel is bent downwards
on pivot P. This slides the lower end of the _compressing lever_ towards
the butt, and a projection on the guide B, working in a groove, takes
the piston with it. When the spring has been fully compressed, the
triangular tip of the rocking cam R engages with a groove in the
piston's head, and prevents recoil when the barrel is returned to its
original position. On pulling the trigger, the piston is released and
flies up the cylinder with great force, and the air in the cylinder is
compressed and driven through the bore of the barrel, blocked by the
leaden slug, to which the whole energy of the expanding spring is
transmitted through the elastic medium of the air.
There are several other good types of air-gun, all of which employ the
principles described above.
THE SELF-CLOSING DOOR-STOP
is another interesting pneumatic device. It consists of a cylinder with
an air-tight piston, and a piston rod working through a cover at one
end. The other end of the cylinder is pivoted to the door frame. When
the door is opened the piston compresses a spring in the cylinder, and
air is admitted past a cup leather on the piston to the upper part of
the cylinder. This air is confined by the cup leather when the door is
released, and escapes slowly through a leak, allowing the spring to
regain its shape slowly, and by the agency of the piston rod to close
the door.
THE ACTION OF WIND ON OBLIQUE SURFACES.
Why does a kite rise? Why does a boat sail across the wind? We can
supply an answer almost instinctively in both cases, "Because the wind
pushes the kite or sail aside." It will, however, be worth while to look
for a more scientific answer. The kite cannot travel in the direction of
the wind because it is confined by a string. But the face is so attached
to the string that it inclines at an angle to the direction of the wind.
Now, when a force meets an inclined surface which it cannot carry along
with it, but which is free to travel in another direction, the force may
be regarded as resolving itself into _two_ forces, coming from each side
of the original line. These are called the _component_ forces.
[Illustration: FIG. 169.]
To explain this we give a simple sketch of a kite in the act of flying
(Fig. 169). The wind is blowing in the direction of the solid arrow A.
The oblique surface of the kite resolves its force into the two
components indicated by the dotted arrows B and C. Of these C only has
lifting power to overcome the force of gravity. The kite assumes a
position in which force C and gravity counterbalance one another.
[Illustration: FIG. 170.]
A boat sailing across the wind is acted on in a similar manner (Fig.
170). The wind strikes the sail obliquely, and would thrust it to
leeward were it not for the opposition of the water. The force A is
resolved into forces B and C, of which C propels the boat on the line of
its axis. The boat can be made to sail even "up" the wind, her head
being brought round until a point is reached at which the force B on the
boat, masts, etc., overcomes the force C. The capability of a boat for
sailing up wind depends on her "lines" and the amount of surface she
offers to the wind.
THE BALLOON
is a pear-shaped bag--usually made of silk--filled with some gas lighter
than air. The tendency of a heavier medium to displace a lighter drives
the gas upwards, and with it the bag and the wicker-work car attached to
a network encasing the bag. The tapering neck at the lower end is open,
to permit the free escape of gas as the atmospheric pressure outside
diminishes with increasing elevation. At the top of the bag is a wooden
valve opening inwards, which can be drawn down by a rope passing up to
it through the neck whenever the aeronaut wishes to let gas escape for a
descent. He is able to cause a very rapid escape by pulling another cord
depending from a "ripping piece" near the top of the bag. In case of
emergency this is torn away bodily, leaving a large hole. The ballast
(usually sand) carried enables him to maintain a state of equilibrium
between the upward pull of the gas and the downward pull of gravity. To
sink he lets out gas, to rise he throws out ballast; and this process
can be repeated until the ballast is exhausted. The greatest height ever
attained by aeronauts is the 7-1/4 miles, or 37,000 feet, of Messrs.
Glaisher and Coxwell on September 5, 1862. The ascent nearly cost them
their lives, for at an elevation of about 30,000 feet they were partly
paralyzed by the rarefaction of the air, and had not Mr. Coxwell been
able to pull the valve rope with his teeth and cause a descent, both
would have died from want of air.
[Illustration: FIG. 171.]
The _flying-machine_, which scientific engineers have so long been
trying to produce, will probably be quite independent of balloons, and
will depend for its ascensive powers on the action of air on oblique
surfaces. Sir Hiram Maxim's experimental air-ship embodied the
principles shown by Fig. 171. On a deck was mounted an engine, E,
extremely powerful for its weight. This drove large propellers, S S.
Large aeroplanes, of canvas stretched over light frameworks, were set up
overhead, the forward end somewhat higher than the rear. The machine was
run on rails so arranged as to prevent it rising. Unfortunately an
accident happened at the first trial and destroyed the machine.
In actual flight it would be necessary to have a vertical rudder for
altering the horizontal direction, and a horizontal "tail" for steering
up or down. The principle of an aeroplane is that of the kite, with this
difference, that, instead of moving air striking a captive body, a
moving body is propelled against more or less stationary air. The
resolution of forces is shown by the arrows as before.
Up to the present time no practical flying-machine has appeared. But
experimenters are hard at work examining the conditions which must be
fulfilled to enable man to claim the "dominion of the air."
[34] The "Romance of Modern Mechanism," p. 243