ipl-logo

Steam Engine Impact Analysis

839 Words4 Pages

--Impact Analysis
Before the invention of the steam engine, the only ways of power were by hand, by wind, by water or by animal.
Using boiling water to create mechanical motion goes back over 2000 years, but the early devices were not practical. In 1781 James Watt, an Scottish engineer, invented a steam engine that produced rotary motions.
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work, using steam as its working fluid.
This 10-horsepower steam engine made it possible to power a great variety of manufacturing machinery. These engines could be located wherever water and coal or wood could be gained and had an enormous impact on many fields of industry.
The steam engine has marked the end of the use of renewable resources, and …show more content…

The world was already getting industrialised before the steam engine was introduced, but without it, the progress would not have happened so quickly.
At that time, many things changed for industry, on thing was the location of those. Before the advent of steam power, factories had to be near rivers. These provided the power. Once steam power was established in industry, factories could be found almost anywhere.
The most important beneficiary of steam power was the transportation. At the begin of the 18th century, high pressure steam engines became compact enough to go beyond factories, resulting in the first train, which hit the roads in 1804. Before the locomotive, products never were carried by something other than manpower or animals.
The United States experienced one of their greatest periods of economic growth, due to the invention of the steamboat. Steamboats started to come up in the transport of goods and people all around the United States, while barges and flatboats were slowly cut …show more content…

To overcome natural obstacles, a system of canals and dams was built. This increased demand for labor prompted tremendous job growth along the rivers.
In order to build the railway system, which developed even faster than the river system, the environment had to be made flat and all hindrances had to be removed in order for the tracks to be built. These works offered a huge amount of jobs in the railway sector.
The stem power not only enabled the progress of new machines it also allowed the colonial powers to discover lands that they were not able to travel before. Due to the given complications navigating through the rivers in Africa the exploration was mostly limited to coast areas. With the steam engine, the industrial powers could go on expeditions to the interior of the continent. The inverntion of the steamboat allowed the Europeans to claim the whole African continent, which had a huge impact on

Open Document