unclear

Chapter 1267 Show off 4
"I heard that you have a lot of free time, so I made this specifically. Put both copper wires into water, cover them with a test tube, and shake the handle vigorously, and you can collect two different gas elements in the test tube. This is the experiment notes, follow them, and don't forget to write down the process and conclusions as a lesson plan if you gain something."

Hong Tao felt no guilt at all for using torture instruments to persecute a scholar with great ambitions. I spent a lot of money to build a laboratory and find ways to create a comfortable living environment, not for you to live in in your old age. You can't be idle every minute, just work hard!
You have to sing praises while pulling, thanking me who is wielding the whip from the bottom of your heart! There is no way, who let your weakness be caught. Don't complain, there is no other such grinding in the world, you must have accumulated great virtue in your previous life to be able to pull it!
Helmont really didn't complain, and handed in his experimental experience the next day. But he was not satisfied either, because in addition to the two gases, he was more interested in the mysterious power generated by the copper wire.

Of course Hong Tao was not stingy and immediately took out another notebook. There was only one big word on the cover: Electricity!
Before meeting Helmont, Hong Tao had tried many times, intending to teach all the basic knowledge about electricity and then patiently wait for students to carry forward their knowledge. Unfortunately, he could not find a suitable candidate, either because they were too low in talent or not interested.

This time, I finally see some hope. Helmont must have a lot of talent, and the most important thing is that he is interested. Someone who can play games with the invisible air all day long for more than ten years only needs to use 30% of his previous perseverance to become the father of electricity.

Helmont did not disappoint this expectation. Two months later, he copied the third hand-cranked AC generator by himself and won the Royal Academy's highest scientific research award that year, the Golden Fishhook Award.

Now he was more motivated, and with his reputation, more and more students were willing to be his assistants. Soon Helmont had a second title, the head professor of electrical engineering in the Department of Physics.

When electricity became a science, many people studied it day and night, and the mysterious veil was gradually unveiled. During the experiment of electrolyzing water, people saw for the first time that an iron rod was coated with a layer of copper, which was of extremely high purity.

So some students began to study whether it is possible to use electricity to copper-plate steel on a large scale. This technology can be used in the shipbuilding industry to prevent steel parts on ships from rusting.

Then they discovered the potential difference between different metals, and following this line of thought, they soon developed the most basic battery. It was just a little ugly and a little big.

Two glass barrels more than half a person's height were filled with dilute sulfuric acid solution. One barrel contained a lot of copper sheets separated by felt, and the other barrel contained a lot of zinc sheets separated by felt. Then an electric current was generated.

Hong Tao did not participate in this process at all. He just silently looked at the experimental notes, and then estimated in his mind the time it would take to use electricity in actual life production, as well as the related supporting facilities that would be needed.

For example, the unit system for measuring electricity is just a few words. Without it, we cannot quantify electricity. And the equipment for measuring electricity is useless if we cannot see it directly.

As for what path the Department of Electrical Engineering should take and when it would think of using electric lighting, Hong Tao did not intend to interfere. Many disciplines have branches, and the development paths in later generations are just a few of them. Not all of them have been tried, and they are not necessarily the best.

The Ming Empire does not urgently need electricity to lead the world, so let them think freely and unrestrainedly. Maybe they can find a new development path that they have never seen before. By then, they will not only be plagiarists of history, but creators.

There are now specific applications of generators in the Royal Academy, with two hydroelectric generators, and all the electricity generated every day is used for experiments.

Why not wind power? In fact, Helmont tried it at first, but failed. It was not because the generator was not easy to use or the fan blades were difficult to make, but because the wind was not strong enough.

South of the capital is a vast plain and lush forests, which surround the entire Royal Academy. Except for relatively strong winds in spring and winter, there is generally no strong wind.

On the contrary, there was a lot of water. One of the rivers ran through the Royal College, and there were water wheels built by other departments on the riverside. All they had to do was build a small diversion dam on the riverside and install a water wheel, and they could run the generator day and night. The Prince of Orange and his entourage wandered around the Royal College for a whole day, ate two meals in the canteen, and left reluctantly after it got dark.

There are many things that I don’t quite understand, such as the microscope in the medical laboratory, which allows us to see tiny insects that are invisible to the naked eye, and which are the culprits of human illness.

There is also this thing called electricity, which can make clean water bubble and smoke instantly, and can also produce two things called gases, which can cause burning wood to explode immediately if you bring burning sticks close to them.

But what exactly is electricity and where does it come from? Helmont couldn't explain it clearly, and he didn't even know what the so-called gas in the test tube was, which made it hard to be convincing.

However, some things are still understandable and easy to associate with, such as the steam engine!

A pile of steel objects can actually move by themselves after being filled with coal. They move with great force, and can continuously bring well water from dozens of meters underground to the four-story teaching building. In the past, this work was done by four cows working in pairs.

Without understanding the principle, a simple comparison can lead to a surprising conclusion: this steam engine, which is not much bigger than a bed, can at least replace the workload of two strong oxen.

Cows need to eat grass and take turns to rest. Steam engines don’t need that. You just need to put coal in them and add clean water regularly. Then they will start to work, humming and emitting white smoke. They will not be lazy regardless of whether there is anyone directing them or not.

Obviously, the steam engine can not only replace cattle to draw water, but also do more work. The machinery factory I visited in Tongzhou Prefecture two days ago was very spectacular. The huge forging hammers flew up and down, pounding the iron ingots into thin sticks like kneading dough, putting them on the lathe to grind, and then drilling with a drill press, a gun barrel was completed.

Both the exterior and the interior are straight and smooth. No wonder the Ming Empire has been supplying muskets to Russia in recent years. The quality is good and the price is low, so it is cost-effective to produce them in this way.

Now we can no longer say that the quality is high and the price is low, but that the quality is high and the price is high. If we sell it freely, all the gun factories in Europe will go bankrupt, because they will be ruthlessly crushed in terms of quality and output.

If the water wheel was replaced with a steam engine, the output of the machinery factory would have to double again. After all, the water wheel is difficult to control and is restricted by the water flow. In the winter dry season, half of the water wheels have to stop turning.

But a steam engine does not need that. It can be started whenever you want. If the power is not enough, you can build a bigger one and run it day and night.

This machinery factory is the oldest and smallest in the Ming Empire. It has not carried out large-scale production for many years and is usually only used for the trial production and research and development of new products.

(End of this chapter)