Section 53

No. 53. A Vessel in which Water and Air ascend and descend alternately.

THERE is also another contrivance by which liquid is borne steadily upwards and remains, so as to seem perpetually ascending. Let A B (fig. 53), be a perfectly air-tight pedestal, partition, C D, and a cover, E F, also perfectly air-tight. In the cover E F let there be a tube, G H, reaching nearly to the top, and passing through an orifice in the partition C D, and another tube, K L, passing through the top of the pedestal but not descending quite so low as the partition. In the pedestal, and outside the glass cover, let there be an aperture, M, through which the vessel A D is to be filled, and near the bottom of the pedestal a spout, N; also one other tube, x 0, passing through the partition and reaching nearly to the bottom of the pedestal, through which the vessel C B may be filled. If the spout, N, be closed the air in C B will pass out through the tubes G H, K L, and the hole M; and when C B is full we must fill A D through the hole M, for the air contained in it will pass out through the same hole. Now, if we set the spout N free, the air in the glass cover will pass through the tube G H into the void space left in C B, and water will ascend from A D through the tube K L into the void space left in the cover, while into the void of the vessel A D air will enter through the aperture M and this will go on until the glass cover is filled: but the spaces A D, C B, E F, must be of equal capacity that the air and water may take the place of one another. When C B is exhausted and the continuity of the air is broken, the water will again descend out of the glass cover into A D, air passing into the cover through the spout N and the tube G H. The air in A D will pass out through the aperture M.

Section 54.
Index.