How to become an inventor : $b Containing experiments in photography, hydraulics, galvanism and electricity, magnetism, heat, and the wonders of the microscopeWarford, Aaron A.
Science
How to become an inventor : $b Containing experiments in photography, hydraulics, galvanism and electricity, magnetism, heat, and the wonders of the microscope
Warford, Aaron A.
Scientific recreations
It is pretty well known to most boys, that if a tumbler of water be
placed within a broad wooden hoop, the whole may be whirled round
without falling, owing to the centrifugal force. On the same principle,
if a small carriage be placed on an iron band or rail, it will ascend
the curve, become inverted, and descend again, without falling.
TO CAUSE A CYLINDER TO ROLL BY ITS OWN WEIGHT UP-HILL.
Procure a coffee-canister, and loading it with a piece of lead, which
may be fixed in with solder, the position of the center of gravity is
thus altered. If a cylinder so constructed be placed on an inclined
plane, and the loaded part above, it will roll up-hill without
assistance.
THE BALANCED STICK.
Procure a piece of wood, about nine inches in length, and about half
an inch in thickness, and thrust into its upper end the blades of two
pen-knives, on either side one. Place the other end upon the tip of the
fore-finger, and it will keep its place without falling.
THE CHINESE MANDARIN.
Construct out of the pith of the elder a little mandarin; then provide
a base for it to sit in, like a kettle drum. Into this put some heavy
substance, such as half a leaden bullet; fasten the figure to this, and
in whatever position it may be placed, it will, when left to itself,
immediately return to its upright position.
TO MAKE A SHILLING TURN ON ITS EDGE ON THE POINT OF A NEEDLE.
Take a bottle, with a cork in its neck, and place in it, in a
perpendicular position, a middle-sized needle. Fix a shilling into
another cork, by cutting a nick in it; and stick into the same cork
two small table-forks, opposite each other, with the handles inclining
outwards and downwards. If the rim of the shilling be now poised on
the point of the needle, it may easily be made to spin round without
falling, as the center of gravity is below the center of suspension.
THE DANCING PEA.
If you stick through a pea, or small ball of pith, two pins at right
angles and defend the points with pieces of sealing-wax, it may be kept
in equilibrio at a short distance from the end of a straight tube, by
means of a current of breath from the mouth, which imparts a rotary
motion to the pea.
OBLIQUITY OF MOTION.
Cut a piece of pasteboard into a circular shape, and describe on it a
spiral line; cut this out with a pen-knife, and then suspend it on a
large skewer or pin. If the whole be now placed on a warm stove, or
over the flame of a candle or lamp, it will revolve with considerable
velocity. The card, after being cut into the spiral, may be made to
represent a snake or dragon, and when in motion will produce a very
pleasing effect.
PNEUMATICS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account