Wheel and wagon. History of invention and production

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HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY, OBJECTS AROUND US
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Wheel and wagon. History of invention and production

The history of technology, technology, objects around us

Directory / The history of technology, technology, objects around us

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One of the greatest discoveries in human history was the invention of the wheel. It is believed that its prototype may have been rollers that were placed under heavy tree trunks, boats and stones when they were dragged from place to place. Perhaps at the same time the first observations on the properties of rotating bodies were made. For example, if for some reason the log-skating rink was thinner in the center than at the edges, it moved under the load more evenly and did not drift to the side. Noticing this, people began to deliberately burn the rinks in such a way that the middle part became thinner, while the side ones remained unchanged. Thus, a device was obtained, which is now called the "slope".

Wheel and wagon
Wooden wheels: 1. Solid wooden wheel. Waldsee peat bog, Germany. 2. Composite wheel, wooden with a slotted hole for the axle and reinforcing wooden inserts (left). Peat bog, in Novarra, Italy. 3. Image of an early composite wheel on a stone Etruscan relief. Etruria (modern Tuscany), Italy

In the course of further improvements in this direction, only two rollers at its ends remained from a solid log, and an axis appeared between them. Later, they began to be made separately, and then rigidly fastened together. So the wheel was opened in the proper sense of the word and the first wagon appeared.

Wheel and wagon
ancient wheel

In subsequent centuries, many generations of craftsmen worked to improve this invention. Initially, solid wheels were rigidly fastened to the axle and rotated with it. When moving on a flat road, such wagons were quite suitable for use. But on a bend, when the wheels must turn at different speeds, this connection creates great inconvenience, since a heavily loaded wagon can easily break or overturn.

The wheels themselves were still very imperfect. They were made from a single piece of wood. Therefore, the wagons were heavy and clumsy. They moved slowly and were usually harnessed to slow but powerful oxen. One of the oldest carts of the described design was found during excavations in Mohenjo-Daro.

A major step forward in the development of locomotion technology was the invention of a wheel with a hub mounted on a fixed axle. In this case, the wheels rotated independently of each other. And so that the wheel would rub less against the axle, they began to lubricate it with grease or tar. In order to reduce the weight of the wheel, cutouts were cut out in it, and for rigidity they were strengthened with transverse braces. Nothing better could have been invented in the Stone Age.

Wheel and wagon
Combat double light chariot with a drawbar for two horses. (Image on a fresco of a megaron in Mycenae. Greece)

After the discovery of metals, wheels with a metal rim and spokes began to be made. Such a wheel could rotate ten times faster and was not afraid of hitting stones. Harnessing swift-footed horses to the wagon, a person significantly increased the speed of his movement.

Wheel and wagon
ancient egyptian chariot

Perhaps it is difficult to find another discovery that would give such a powerful impetus to the development of technology. A wagon, a potter's wheel, a mill, a water wheel and a block - this is not a complete list of devices based on the wheel. Each of these inventions constituted an epoch in the life of mankind. Their cumulative impact on people's lives was so great that without any exaggeration we can say: the wheel moved history off the ground and made it race several times faster.

Author: Ryzhov K.V.

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swirling light slows down 30.03.2016

According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, the speed of light in vacuum is a universal physical constant equal to 299 meters per second. Researchers at the University of Ottawa found that swirling light travels 792% slower.

Twisted light is a light wave in which the light front is not flat, but rotates in a certain way. In the simplest case, it looks like a spiral, similar to a corkscrew - it not only spreads forward, but also, as it were, rotates around the direction of its movement. Physicists say it has orbital angular momentum. If a freely suspended body absorbs such light, it will begin to rotate.

The phenomenon of light twisting should not be confused with the circular polarization of light, in which the wave front is flat, and as it propagates, the direction of the electric field reverses. It is curious that an ordinary beam of light creates a spot on the screen, and a twisted one creates a ring.

The first time the researchers discovered the slowing of swirling light was when a conventional laser beam and light with ten turns did not arrive at the detector at the same time. But to measure the beam delay, which in experiments varied from tenths to 23 femtoseconds (10-15 s), turned out to be an extremely difficult task. Scientists have spent more than a year developing a suitable method based on the interaction of a swirling beam with the original beam that has passed the delay line.

The slowing down of the speed of swirling light in a vacuum does not disprove the theory of relativity. The authors of the work explain it by the fact that the light of such a complex structure deviates from the direction of the shortest propagation between two points and thus travels a slightly greater distance.

The first beam of swirling light was obtained in 1995. The prospects for its use for both scientific and practical purposes were so great that physicists quickly learned how to obtain swirling light and control it. Currently, swirling light is used as a research tool at the micro level, to encode and increase the speed of information transmission. It could be very useful in the creation of quantum communications and quantum computers. Therefore, the open effect can be of great importance.

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