Keyestudio
Fully functional screw pumps.
Making science accessible to everyone, the Primary Science products have been designed with young scientists in mind. The bright colours will keep young learners engaged while chunky tools are perfect for little hands to manage.
- Introduce the concept of cause and effect with this sturdy Archimedes Screw
- Encourage observation skills as young learners watch water defying gravity
- Use of the screw will build fine motor skills
- Ideal for use at water tables
- Features a soft grip for little hands to easily hold
- Protruding lip makes this primary science tool easy-to-use
- Screw measures 28cm L
- Tool can also be used with soil, sand and other small solids
- Set of 4
- Features multilingual packaging
Ages 5 – 9
The invention
The Archimedes screw consists of a screw (a helical surface surrounding a central cylindrical shaft) inside a hollow pipe. The screw is usually turned by windmill, manual labor, or cattle. As the shaft turns the bottom end scoops up a volume of water. This water is then pushed up the tube by the rotating helicoid until it pours out from the top of the tube.
The contact surface between the screw and the pipe does not need to be perfectly watertight, as long as the amount of water being scooped with each turn is large compared to the amount of water leaking out of each section of the screw per turn. If water from one section leaks into the next lower one, it will be transferred upwards by the next segment of the screw.
In some designs, the screw is fused to the casing and they both rotate together, instead of the screw turning within a stationary casing. A screw could be sealed with pitch resin or other adhesive to its casing, or cast as a single piece in bronze. Some researchers have postulated this as being the device used to irrigate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Depictions of Greek and Roman water screws show them being powered by a human treading on the outer casing to turn the entire apparatus as one piece, which would require that the casing be rigidly attached to the screw.
