Water wheel
part · 300 BC · Ancient world
A wheel with paddles turned by flowing water.
Principles and materials it uses
- Gravity flow — uses. Falling or flowing water turns the wheel.
- Wood — is made of. Water wheels are wooden.
Where it is used
- Watermill — is part of. A water wheel drives the mill’s mechanism.
- Sawmill — is part of. Early sawmills were driven by water wheels.
- Trip hammer — is part of. The shaft was turned by a water wheel.
- Arkwright’s water frame — is part of. Driven by water.
- Hierapolis sawmill — is part of. Driven by water.
- Noria — is used in. The current itself turns the wheel.
- Gunpowder mill — is part of. The drive.
- Gristmill — is used in. A water wheel turns the millstones.
- Rolling mill — is used in. The first mills were turned by water.
- Noria — is part of. A wheel turned by the current.
History: what it evolved from and what it influenced
- Turbine — evolved into. The water turbine evolved from the water wheel.
- Water turbine — evolved into. The turbine is a development of the water wheel.
What it is a kind of
- Wheel — is a kind of. A water wheel is a wheel with paddles turned by flowing water.
Things built in a similar way
- Paddle wheel — works like. A water wheel in reverse: instead of water turning the wheel, the wheel pushes the water.