Was there an earthquake? Drawing, description

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Would there be an earthquake? Children's Science Lab

Children's Science Lab

"And I say it's an earthquake!" - Vitya switched to a raised tone. He was one hundred percent, "iron" sure: when he was sitting on his homework, the chair jumped twice, and the table moved "Here, look!" - Vitka poked his finger into a notebook, where in two places the pen wrote out squiggles.

"So maybe you fell asleep?" I suggested. I didn't feel anything at the time.

The dispute was deadlocked. My friend's father took it upon himself to resolve it. “What is the fuss about?” he said. “Only a device can judge you. They call it a seismograph.” And he told how to make it at home.

Still not cooled down from the dispute, we got down to business, although at first we did not even know what a seismograph was. Now it is clear to us - this is a device for recording the vibrations of the earth's crust. And the vibrations cause real earthquakes, even very distant ones, explosions and other tremors caused, for example, by the movement of heavily loaded trains or the work of machines driving piles. The speed of propagation of "waves" of such oscillations is different - from 3,5 to 7 km / s ...

And now about the device itself. We are sure that you will be interested in making it too. What’s more, it wasn’t all that complicated.

The basis of any seismograph is a massive pendulum How it is suspended on the base determines whether we register horizontal or vertical oscillations. The fact is that when the surface of the earth (and with it everything that stands on it) shifts, the pendulum remains at rest by inertia. Thanks to this, it is possible to measure how much the surrounding objects “walk” relative to its motionless mass.

The design of the seismograph will not raise questions if you carefully read the drawings. They show two versions of the device: A - for recording horizontal displacements of the earth, B - vertical ones. Let's say from experience that it is better not to "small things" in the overall dimensions of the base and frame. These parts made of wood or metal should be rigid and massive. Recorders are drums with paper slowly rotated by means of a clockwork, on which the writing elements draw a straight line. The vibrations of the earth cause displacements of the base, and the pendulum through the levers makes the feathers move. The result is a record in the form of zigzag lines, by the height and pitch of which one can judge the nature of the oscillations.

Would there be an earthquake?
Seismograph

The sensitivity of the seismograph is given by the gear ratio of the lever mechanism (in Figure A, this is the ratio of b to a). The larger it is, the higher the sensitivity. But it's better to experiment. Otherwise, even moving around the apartment will respond to the shaking of the pen. For "writing" it is better to use a felt-tip pen that can write on plastic tracing paper, or to smoke the surface of the drum with a candle flame, and make the pen dry, in the form of a needle. In device B, a second lever is inserted into the drive of the recorder, and the pen is pressed against the drum due to its own weight. Otherwise, you would have to put the drum vertically and come up with a cunning system of levers.

The most complex assembly in a seismograph is the clock mechanism. Do not make it yourself. But you can use the "Young Watchmaker" set.

Would there be an earthquake?
Clockwork

When the drum rotates directly from the clockwise axis, the paper on it will have to be changed twice a day. If a second pen clamp is provided (shown on seismograph A), the service life is doubled. It is enough just to rearrange the writing element after 12 hours to a new "track". But it’s better to tinker and pick up a couple of suitable gears from toys. Place the small one on the axis of the hour hand, and place the large one with its axis on the plastic "glass" of the watch. Then the time for a full turn of the drum will increase many times over. And, of course, it is necessary to provide for the availability and ease of replacing the paper or the drum itself.

When we made the device, we read some special literature. And we even had a problem. She. of course, for the inventive. Think of how to replace both of these seismographs - for vertical and horizontal oscillations - with a universal device with a single pendulum. From the literature, we realized that this is possible, but difficult. But maybe there are simple solutions?

Author: Ya.Vladis

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