I - 21 James Watt And The Teakettle

James Watt And The Teakettle



A  little  Scotch  boy  was  sitting  in  his  grandmother's  kit-  chen.  He  was watching the red flames in the wide open fire- place and quietly wondering about the causes of things. In- deed, he was always wondering and always wanting  to  know.

"Grandma,"  he  presently  asked,  "what  makes  the  fire  burn  ?" This was not the first time he had puzzled his grand- mother with questions that she could not answer. So she went on with her preparations for supper and  paid  no  heed  to  his  query.

Above the fire an old-fashioned teakettle was hanging. The water within it was beginning to bubble. A thin cloud of steam was rising from the spout. Soon  the  lid  began  to  rattle  and  shake.  The  hot  vapor  puffed  out  at  a furious rate(2). Yet when the lad peeped under the lid he could see nothing.

"Grandma,  what  is  in  the  teakettle  ?"  he  asked.

"Water,  my  child--nothing  but  water(3)."

"But  I  know  there  is  something  else.  There  is  some-  thing  in  there  that lifts  the  lid  and  makes  it  rattle."

The grandmother laughed. "Oh, that is only steam," she said. "You can see it  coming  out  of  the  spout  and  puffing  up  under  the  lid."

"But you said there was nothing but water in the kettle. How did the steam get  under  the  lid  ?"

"Why(4), my dear, it comes out of the hot water. The hot water makes it."

The  grandmother  was  beginning  to  feel  puzzled.

The lad lifted the lid and peeped inside again. He could see nothing but the bubbling water. The steam was not visible until after it was  fairly out  of  the  kettle.

"How  queer  !"  he  said.  "The  steam  must  be  very  strong  to  lift  the  heavy iron  lid.  Grandma,  how  much  water  did  you  put  into  the  kettle?"

"About  a  quart(5),  Jamie(6)."

"Well, if the steam from so little water is so strong, why would not the steam  from  a  great  deal  of  water  be  a  great  deal  stronger?  Why  couldn't it be made to lift a much greater weight ? Why couldn't it be made to turn wheels  ?"

The  grandmother  made  no  reply.  These  questions  of  Jamie's  were  more
puzzling  than  profitable,(7)  she  thought.  She  went  about(8)  her  work silently,  and  Jamie  sat  still  in  his  place  and  studied  the  teakettle.