Archimedes’ screw model

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The presented object is a didactic model illustrating how the Archimedes’ screw operates. It is a simple machine – a type of lifting device that allows water to be transported upwards. The half-cylinder and the adjacent screw are inclined at an angle of approximately 40° to the base. The screw was set into motion by a crank. As it rotated, the screw lifted a ball upward. There are two holes in the half-cylinder; the ball enters through the upper one and falls out onto the screw thread through the lower one. In 1784, the instrument was part of the inventory of the Collegium Physicum as the Mechanical Department’ collection It was described as follows: “Archimedes’ wooden screw, one foot two inches long, inclined to its base at an angle of nearly 40°. The cylinder of this machine is four inches thick, the distance between the threads is one inch and six lines”. This is one of the typical didactic models used at 18th and 19th-century universities.