Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 99 Water has three states: liquid, vapor and ice
Zhu Changluo nodded to Wang An, who nodded in response. "Boys, get moving," Wang An ordered the three eunuchs behind him.

The eunuchs received their orders and began to operate the ball. One eunuch brought a kettle of warm water to the ball. Another eunuch, already waiting there, saw the kettle approach and grabbed two hollow copper tubes, twisting them counterclockwise to unscrew them, lifting the lid and the ball together. With the lid off, the three curved copper tubes resembled a basin.

The eunuch holding a kettle added water into the basin, and it was full in a short while.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but frown at this scene. However, they were standing at a distance from the balloon, so he didn't say anything.

After adding water, the eunuch put the cover connected to the sphere back on. At this time, the last eunuch also finished his work and used an iron fork to push the burning charcoal stove to the middle of the three legs.

The water poured into the basin was already warm, so not long after the small charcoal stove was pushed directly under the basin, the blazing charcoal fire boiled the water.

The liquid water turns into steam and rises upwards. The first result is that the steam pushes the boiling water and squeezes it out from the gap between the basin and the lid.

Zhu Youxiao's gaze followed the water droplets up into the air, then back down to the ground. He chuckled softly, revealing an expression of "as expected."

The water vapor broke through the liquid surface and rose along the two hollow copper columns and poured into the copper ball.

After a short while, the vapor gathered to a critical mass and finally gushed out from two opposing nozzles on the sphere. The two gushing streams of vapor exerted two opposing, coaxial forces on the sphere, causing it to slowly and automatically rotate.

This Western children's toy is really dangerous. Zhu Youxiao muttered inwardly, while imitating his fifth brother's excitement when he received a gift, jumping and clapping his hands. "Really! It's spinning on its own."

"What are you talking about? You'd better stop imitating a child. You don't look like one." Zhu Changluo saw through Zhu Youxiao's disguise at a glance and ruthlessly exposed this white lie.

Zhu Youxiao was stunned and then his face turned red.

"Father." Zhu Youxiao turned his head away with a frown, but his eyes met Wang An's.

Wang An's expression was calm, but Zhu Youxiao keenly noticed that several wrinkles on Wang An's old face were twitching slightly.

It was so embarrassing. He really wanted to lie down on the bed and cover his head with the quilt.

"Just tell me the truth. Do you think this thing is useless?" Zhu Changluo stopped teasing when he saw that Zhu Youxiao's face was full of embarrassment.

It's no wonder Zhu Youxiao had no interest in the primitive steam engine. If its usefulness were truly instantly apparent, it wouldn't have sat idle for a thousand years without further development. Zhu Changluo vaguely remembered that the steam engine was first put to practical use to reduce the cost of pumping water from a mine. Furthermore, it was a condensing steam engine driven by atmospheric pressure, a different principle from that of a steam-powered ball.

"Your Majesty," Zhu Youxiao's shy expression remained. To avoid his father's gaze, he lowered his head and bowed respectfully. He said seriously, "Your Majesty, whatever you have given me is a reward. It doesn't matter whether it's useful or not." Zhu Youxiao paused, then continued, "Your Majesty, I have a request for you."

"You say." Zhu Changluo nodded in agreement.

"Please, father, don't give this Western toy to your younger brothers and sisters," said Zhu Youxiao.

"Why?"

"It's too dangerous," Zhu Youxiao replied. "At its core, this imported product is just a kettle that turns but doesn't produce water."

"Boil the kettle?" Zhu Changluo cast an inquiring look at Zhu Youxiao.

"Yes. After the water in the kettle boils, the gushing steam will impact and push open the lid. After the lid is pushed open, the steam will escape through the gap. In this way, the lid will fall back and close together with the body of the kettle." Zhu Youjiao explained: "This is the same principle as the steam ejected to drive the rotation of the sphere." "This thing itself is not dangerous. However, once the water in it boils and splashes onto a person's body, it may cause scalding at best and peeling at worst. I once heard of a tragic incident. There was a eunuch working in the Huntangsi. One day, he accidentally slipped and knocked over the bucket of hot water he was carrying. The boiling hot water poured on his body, and his skin and flesh immediately peeled off." Zhu Youjiao felt sad, and his words were full of sympathy.

"I think this thing is no better than a kettle. After all, it's a novelty. I've matured." Zhu Youxiao's face flushed again. He paused before continuing, "I'm not particularly curious about it, but my younger brothers and sisters are still young. If they get close to it and get burned by the splashing hot water, it would be a violation of my father's original intention."

"You're right." Zhu Changluo looked at the water stains on the ground and thought: Rubber is still necessary, otherwise the airtightness will be too poor.

Zhu Changluo was somewhat surprised that Zhu Youxiao looked down on the situation of the steam ball, but this did not affect his "guidance plan". After praising him, he asked, "Have you ever thought about why this is the case?"

"Why?" Zhu Youxiao didn't understand what his father was asking.

"Why can the water in the kettle push the lid after it boils, or why can the water in the basin make the ball spin only after it boils?" After slightly changing the wording, Zhu Changluo still threw out the question he had prepared long ago.

Zhu Youxiao muttered for a moment, then replied, "Because the water turned into steam."

"Why does water have to turn into steam to push the lid and turn the ball?" Zhu Changluo asked.

"Because." Zhu Youxiao shook his head. "I don't know, please enlighten me, father."

Zhu Youxiao had no concept of "water molecules," so explaining the concept of "molecular gaps" to him was pointless. So Zhu Changluo could only vaguely say, "Because water expands in volume after becoming vapor."

"Has it grown in size?"

"Look at this." Zhu Changluo waved his hand, and immediately two eunuchs came over with trays.

"This is a piece of wood, and this is a piece of gold. They are the same size." Zhu Changluo held the piece of wood in his left hand and the piece of gold in his right hand, and then handed them to Zhu Youxiao together.

"The gold nugget is much heavier." Zhu Youxiao felt it.

"Have you ever thought about why?"

"Isn't it natural that gold is heavier than wood?"

"It's not that gold is heavier than wood, but rather that gold is heavier when the two objects have the same volume," Zhu Changluo said. "The fundamental reason for different weights when the volumes are the same is because of different densities."

"Density? Does it mean the degree of density?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"That's right." Zhu Changluo picked up a decorative porcelain plate and walked to the stove where water was boiling.

He held the plate over the steaming pot's mouth. Soon, a dense mass of water droplets formed on the plate. Pointing at the droplets, Zhu Changluo said, "Water has three states: liquid, vapor, and ice. When hot, vapor rises; when cold, ice freezes. Water in different states has different densities. When liquid water encounters fire and rises to vapor, its density decreases and its volume increases. This increase in volume creates a force, and it's this force that pushes on the lid and turns the ball."

Zhu Youxiao bit his lower lip with his upper teeth and fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)