THE MOST IMPORTANT INVENTIONS OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION - The inventions and innovations of the Industrial Revolution transformed the U.S. and Great Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries. Tremendous gains in science and technology helped Britain become the world's dominant economic and political power, while in the U.S. it fueled a young nation's westward expansion and built vast fortunes. British innovations harnessed the power of water, steam, and coal, helping the U.K. dominate the global textile market. Other advancements made in chemistry, manufacturing, and transportation allowed the nation to expand and fund its empire around the globe. The American Industrial Revolution began after the Civil War as the U.S. rebuilt its infrastructure. New forms of transportation such as the steamboat and the railroad helped the nation expand trade. Meanwhile, innovations such as the modern assembly line and electric light bulb revolutionized both business and personal life. Water had long been used to power simple machines such as grain mills and textile spinners, but Scottish inventor James Watt's refinements to the steam engine in 1775 launched the revolution in earnest. Up until that point, such engines were crude, inefficient, and unreliable. Watt's first engines were used primarily to pump water and air into and out of mines. With the development of more powerful, efficient engines which would operate under higher pressure and increased output, came newer, better forms of transportation.

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The Most Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

By Martin Kelly

 

The inventions and innovations of the Industrial Revolution transformed the U.S. and Great Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Tremendous gains in science and technology helped Britain become the world's dominant economic and political power, while in the U.S. it fueled a young nation's westward expansion and built vast fortunes. 

A Revolution Twice Over

British innovations harnessed the power of water, steam, and coal, helping the U.K. dominate the global textile market of the mid-1770s.

Other advancements made in chemistry, manufacturing, and transportation allowed the nation to expand and fund its empire around the globe.

The American Industrial Revolution began after the Civil War as the U.S. rebuilt its infrastructure.

New forms of transportation such as the steamboat and the railroad helped the nation expand trade.

Meanwhile, innovations such as the modern assembly line and electric light bulb revolutionized both business and personal life.

Transportation

Water had long been used to power simple machines such as grain mills and textile spinners, but Scottish inventor James Watt's refinements to the steam engine in 1775 launched the revolution in earnest.

Up until that point, such engines were crude, inefficient, and unreliable. Watt's first engines were used primarily to pump water and air into and out of mines.

With the development of more powerful, efficient engines which would operate under higher pressure and increased output, came newer, better forms of transportation. ​

Robert Fulton was an engineer and inventor who had become fascinated with Watt's engine while living in France at the turn of the 19th century.

After several years of experimenting in Paris, he returned to the U.S. and launched the Clermont in 1807 on the Hudson River in New York.

It was the first commercially viable steamboat line in the nation. ​​

As the nation's rivers began opening to navigation, commerce expanded along with the population.

Another new form of transportation, the railroad, also relied on steam power to drive the locomotives.

First in Britain and then in the U.S., rail lines began appearing in the 1820s. By 1869, the first transcontinental rail line linked the coasts.

If the 19th century belonged to steam, the 20th century belonged to the internal combustion engine.

American inventor George Brayton, working on earlier innovations, developed the first liquid-fueled internal combustion engine in 1872.

During the next two decades, German engineers including Karl Benz and Rudolf Diesel would make further innovations.

By the time Henry Ford unveiled his Model T car in 1908, the internal combustion engine was poised to transform not just the nation's transportation system but also spur 20th-century industries like petroleum and aviation.

Communication

As the populations of both the U.K. and the U.S. expanded in the 1800s and America's boundaries pushed westward, new forms of communication that could cover great distances were invented to keep pace with this growth.

One of the first significant inventions was the telegraph, perfected by Samuel Morse.

He developed a series of dots and dashes that could be transmitted electrically in 1836; they came to be known as Morse Code, though it wouldn't be until 1844 that the first telegraph service opened, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

As the rail system expanded in the U.S., the telegraph followed along, literally. Rail depots doubled as telegraph stations, bringing news to the far-flung frontier.

Telegraph signals began flowing between the U.S. and the U.K. in 1866 with Cyrus Field's first permanent transatlantic telegraph line.

The following decade, Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell, working in the U.S. with Thomas Watson, patented the telephone in 1876. 

Thomas Edison, who made a number of discoveries and innovations during the 1800s, contributed to the communications revolution by inventing the phonograph in 1876.

The device used paper cylinders coated with wax to record sound. Records were first made of metal and later shellac.

In Italy, Enrico Marconi made his first successful radio wave transmission in 1895, paving the way for the radio to be invented in the next century.

Industry

In 1794, the American industrialist Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.

This device mechanized the process of removing seeds from cotton, something that had previously been done largely by hand.

But what made Whitney's invention particularly special was its use of interchangeable parts. If one part broke, it could be easily replaced by another inexpensive, mass-produced copy. This made processing cotton cheaper, in turn creating new markets and wealth. 

Elijah McCoy, a mechanical engineer, filed more than 50 patents for various industrial inventions.

Although he did not invent the sewing machine, Elias Howe's refinements and patent in 1844 perfected the device. Working with Isaac Singer, Howe marketed the device to manufacturers and later consumers.

The machine allowed for the mass production of clothing, expanding the nation's textile industry.

It also made housework easier and allowed the growing middle class to indulge in hobbies like fashion.

But factory work — and home life — still were dependent upon sunlight and lamplight.

It wasn't until electricity began being harnessed for commercial purposes that industry truly was revolutionized.

Thomas Edison's invention of the electric light bulb in 1879 became the means by which large factories could be illuminated, extending shifts and increasing manufacturing output.

It also spurred the creation of the nation's electrical grid, into which the many inventions of the 20th century from TVs to PCs would eventually plug.

Person	Invention	Date
James Watt	First reliable steam engine	1775
Eli Whitney	Cotton gin Interchangeable parts for muskets	1793 1798
Robert Fulton	Regular steamboat service on the Hudson River	1807
Samuel F.B. Morse	Telegraph	1836
Elias Howe	Sewing machine	1844
Isaac Singer	Improves and markets Howe's sewing machine	1851
Cyrus Field	Transatlantic cable	1866
Alexander Graham Bell	Telephone	1876
Thomas Edison	Phonograph Incandescent light bulb	1877 1879
Nikola Tesla	Induction electric motor	1888
Rudolf Diesel	Diesel engine	1892
Orville and Wilbur Wright	First airplane	1903
Henry Ford	Model T Ford Large-scale moving assembly line	1908 1913

 

Martin Kelly

History Expert

Education

M.A., History, University of Florida

B.A., History, University of Florida

Introduction

History teacher

Online course developer

Author of two books on American history

Experience

Martin H. Kelly wrote about American history for over 15 years for ThoughtCo. A secondary school social studies teacher for over a decade, he was also director of curriculum for the Florida Virtual School, and developed an Advance Placement American history course there. Currently, he is instructional design services manager in Tampa, Fla., for Pamoja Education, a UK-based educational technology company. 

Education

Martin Kelly holds a bachelor's degree in history with a classics minor and a master's degree from the University of Florida.

Publications

"The Everything American Presidents Book" (Everything, 2007)

"Colonial Life: Government" (Routledge, 2015)

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/industrial-revolution-inventors-chart-4059637

 

THE MAGIC OF A THERMOS - Why A Thermos Keep Things Cold Longer Than It Keeps Things Hot - A thermos appears to be more effective for keeping cold liquids chilled because the difference in temperature between the ambient temperature and perceived “cold” and “hot” liquids. Heat energy will transfer out of hot liquids more rapidly than it will transfer into cold liquids. Basically, whether you put steaming hot soup or ice-cold water in the thermos, the vacuum bubble surrounding the inner flask will keep the temperature stable for an extended period of time. Energy is created by the vibrational movement of atoms and molecules, and this energy can be transferred. When this transfer of energy occurs as a result of a temperature difference, it is called heat energy. In the case of differing temperatures, heat energy flows from a hot object to a cold object. A vacuum flask is able to prevent or minimize heat transfer between the exterior environment and the liquid inside the thermos. Heat transfer is how heat energy is transferred between objects, whether that is a convection stove boiling a pot of water, the sun heating the planet or a campfire warming a marshmallow! When it comes to the contents of a thermos and the exterior environment, heat transfer is significantly delayed by the vacuum layer.

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The Magic Of A Thermos

Why Does A Thermos Keep Things Cold Longer Than It Keeps Things Hot?

John Staughton 

A thermos appears to be more effective for keeping cold liquids chilled because the difference in temperature between the ambient temperature and perceived “cold” and “hot” liquids.

Heat energy will transfer out of hot liquids more rapidly than it will transfer into cold liquids.

Can you remember back to lunchtime during your school days?

For me, my lunch bag would contain a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an apple, a bag of chips and a room temperature Capri Sun.

I still remember the envy I had for those kids who would pull out a thermos from their bag and begin slurping up warm soup or drinking ice-cold juice.

All of my food tended to be the same temperature, and my parents refused to buy me a thermos, insisting that I would lose it (they were probably right).

The apparent magic of a thermos has perplexed me for many years, but I have also learned an interesting fact from various thermos-loving friends.

In short, their thermoses are better at keeping cold liquids cold than they are at keeping hot liquids hot. Why is that?

What is a Thermos?

Before we can understand its intricacies, let’s take a broad look at thermoses to have a clearer idea of the subject.

A thermos is any container that is able to keep liquids either hot or cold, thanks to a double-walled design featuring a vacuum.

More formally known as a vacuum flask, this invention has been around since the end of the 19th century, when researcher Sir James Dewar stumbled upon it in the course of his study of cryogenics.

Dewar placed two brass flasks inside of one another, and joined them at the neck. The air that became trapped between the two flasks in a thermos can be removed or evacuated, creating a vacuum inside the space.

Without any air to facilitate heat transfer, liquid placed in the inner flask will be isolated from the exterior conditions, and will thus be able to retain its temperature more effectively.

Although this was a rudimentary version of a thermos, and only offered a partial vacuum, it was a huge breakthrough.

Basically, whether you put steaming hot soup or ice-cold water in the thermos, the vacuum bubble surrounding the inner flask will keep the temperature stable for an extended period of time.

The best thermoses on the market claim to keep items cold or hot for two days, and up to 10 days if the liquid is iced!

While thermos efficiency has certainly improved over the years, people still claim that liquids cool off before they warm up, a claim that is directly related to heat transfer.

Heat Transfer in a Thermos

Energy is created by the vibrational movement of atoms and molecules, and this energy can be transferred.

When this transfer of energy occurs as a result of a temperature difference, it is called heat energy. In the case of differing temperatures, heat energy flows from a hot object to a cold object.

As mentioned above, a vacuum flask is able to prevent or minimize heat transfer between the exterior environment and the liquid inside the thermos.

Why does this matter? Because heat transfer is a key part of thermal engineering and thermodynamics, and it occurs all across the universe!

Heat transfer is how heat energy is transferred between objects, whether that is a convection stove boiling a pot of water, the sun heating the planet or a campfire warming a marshmallow!

When it comes to the contents of a thermos and the exterior environment, heat transfer is significantly delayed by the vacuum layer.

If it was filled with hot soup, the heat energy from the interior flask would try to heat up the colder gas molecules in the space between, which could then pass that heat energy to the outer flask wall and the exterior environment temperature, which would be colder than the hot soup.

However, there is no gas in the vacuum space, so that transfer of heat energy does not readily occur.

Similarly, if the inner flask is filled with ice water, the warmth of the outer environment will warm the flask, but there are no air molecules to transfer that heat energy across to the inner flask wall, and thus the cold water stays cold!

So Why Are Thermoses Better At Keeping Things Cold?

Concerning heat transfer, the greater the difference in temperature between two objects, the faster the energy will transfer between them, from hot to cold.

Our perception of hot and cold is also an important thing to consider in this question.

Consider that room temperature is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 Celsius); water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 Celsius) and boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 Celsius).

Thus, the difference between room temperature and a thermos of an ice-cold drink is much smaller than the difference between room temperature and a thermos of hot soup off the stove.

Now, a thermos is far from perfect, and some heat is gradually lost.

Every time you open the thermos, for example, a significant amount of heat transfer will occur (i.e., your coffee will cool or your water will warm).

However, a larger amount of energy will be transferred between coffee and the cooler air, due to the larger difference in temperature.

A smaller amount of energy will transfer between the cold water and the warmer air, due to their smaller difference in temperature.

This is where human perception comes into play; we will be more aware of the temperature change in the coffee than the temperature change in the water.

As a result, popular opinion states that thermoses are better at keeping things cold than keeping things warm, but by percentage of heat energy transferred, thermoses are equally efficient at either end of the temperature spectrum.

A Final Word

The reason that thermoses seem more effective at keeping things chilled than warm is our perception of the temperature change.

Hot liquids (i.e., coffee and soup) are prepared considerably hotter than room temperature, whereas a cold drink is much closer to room temperature.

As heat transfer occurs, we are simply more aware of the difference in heat energy as hot liquids change.

A good way to avoid disappointment is to consume the contents of your thermos immediately upon opening it for the very first time, before heat energy has a chance to make its moves!

John Staughton is a traveling writer, editor, publisher and photographer who earned his English and Integrative Biology degrees from the University of Illinois. He is the co-founder of a literary journal, Sheriff Nottingham, and the Content Director for Stain’d Arts, an arts nonprofit based in Denver. On a perpetual journey towards the idea of home, he uses words to educate, inspire, uplift and evolve.

https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-does-a-thermos-keep-things-cold-longer-than-it-keeps-things-hot.html