Definition of Steam Engine

During the Industrial Revolution It began in Great Britain at the end of the eighteenth century and began a new course for the whole of humanity. This radical change in technology was the germ of what later became known as the globalization. So that the revolution In the industrial model it was possible, new machines were necessary and the steam engine was probably the most relevant invention of this period.

The first steam engines

The steam engine is based on a general principle: the transformation of heat into mechanical energy. The first machines with this revolutionary principle appeared in the early 1700s when a blacksmith and inventor named Thomas Newcomen devised a contraption to improve the performance of water pumps in mines and thus be able to go deeper into the galleries underground.

In the early years, steam engines powered hydraulic pumps, but the new contraption had a number of technical limitations. For this reason, the inventor James Watt began to perfect the Newcomen machine and try to solve the problem of

condensation effective steam. To solve this limitation James Watt had the idea of ​​using two different cylinders instead of one. With this contribution, an efficient steam engine was finally achieved. The new patent was soon developed thanks to some investors and within a few years large-scale steam engines began to be manufactured.

James Watt perfected the first models with the intention that they would be useful beyond the system of pumping water for mining. These advances took shape in steam engines applied to factory looms and in a very special way to locomotives. Thus, the new invention was a revolution in the mining sector, in the production of fabrics and in the transport of passengers and merchandise. If we take the textile sector as a reference, in addition to the steam engine, other first-order advances emerged (the Flying shuttle replaced manual thread laying process, Jenny spinning machine, or loom mechanical).

Inventions of the Industrial Revolution and the beginning of a new era

Technological inventions were the transformative element of the industrial age. There are many technical advances that occurred during this period: gas lighting, the electric motor, vulcanized rubber, the industrial production of aluminum or the electric battery.

The Industrial Revolution is a very broad phenomenon and that is why the distinction is made between the first and the second revolution. In the last years of the 21st century, people are beginning to speak of a paradigm based on new technologies and to refer to it the most logical label is used, the third Industrial Revolution.

By way of conclusion we could affirm that technological development contemporary it is nothing more than a gradual process and that process began with the steam engine.

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