Hero's engine

Date1880-1930

Inventory Number1997-1-0150

ClassificationHero's Engine

Subject

Maker American ?

User Bowdoin College, Department of Physics founded after 1794

Cultural Region

Place of Use

Dimensions23.8 × 19.4 × 4.5 cm (9 3/8 × 7 5/8 × 1 3/4 in.)

Material

DescriptionBlack metal rod 18cm long with metal sphere 5cm in diameter attached at the end with a bearing, allowing the sphere to spin. Two L-shaped metal arms protrude from just beneath sphere and extend out 10cm in opposite directions.

Signedunsigned

FunctionThis instrument, invented by Hero of Alexandria, is commonly described as the predecessor of the steam engine. Water would be poured inside the metallic sphere and then it would be heated. The steam produced by the heating of the water, having no where else to go, would come out of the hollowed pipes. The pipes are bent in such a way that the vapor pressure coming out of the pipes would put the system in rotation.

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ProvenanceFrom the Department Physics, Bowdoin College.