I will write a journal on the experiences I have on the problems and challenges I come across that the people who wrote these laws and theories came across with as well.
Week 1-December 3
I am doing an experiment/showcase/demonstration with steam. Engines are amazingly complicated- at first. Once people grasp the basic concept of how and why it works, it is beautifully clever. This is how we arrive to the point of steam engines. Steam engines are the first in history to many things and advancements. Humans have always wanted for things to do work for them, thus the idea of a work machine hatched. This is the beginning of what doesn't really have a clear known starting point. By the time the chain of events began to forge, many single components of our current knowledge of combustion engines was still very varied.
Week 2-December 10
The beginning of my experience on the engine isn't all that great. The engine is cold, and so is my enthusiasm. In order for my experiment to work the water tank has to heat up to the boiling point along with the water fuel line. Under this entry is the picture of the steam engine model I am using. I am using wood to fuel my fire, I have decided. I really hope i don't run into trouble with mechanical failure. I will not yet start running the engine, as I need to take precautions with it because it is not mine. The engine was provided to me by my school, which was pretty nice.
Week 3-December 17
This is when I started to try turning the engine over for the first time. Both I and the engine need to warm up, I believe. I need to warm up to the idea that this might not work at first, and the engine, well-just itself. I begin by using way-small pieces of wood to light under the water reserve tank. Right away, i have immediate results: The pieces aren't lighting up enough. I kept lighting more and more wood, but the flame simply wouldn't keep it's flame. These results rather made me sad, so I left it for the day
Week 4-December 24
I started looking into fuels that most likely were used by manufacturers of (anything) to power their steam engines. I need to start thinking logically about surface area, burning, and oxygen sourcing for my fuel source too. Naturally, I will use wood because it is more accepted for use in school than coal is. If I cut wood into cubes, I thought, maybe this will increase the chance of success in my fire. This theory was quickly shot down by the fact that no significant change in flame duration was really made. I really believed that cubes would burn better because they would use more oxygen all around. This was another sad note to end the work day at.
Week 5-November 1
I started looking into fuels that most likely were used by manufacturers of (anything) to power their steam engines. Part two: thinking logically about surface area, burning, and oxygen consumption. I, as a future licensed engineer, reasoned that only saw dust is how wood would consume the maximum amount of oxygen. I therefore set out to start sawing wood and collect as much dust as possible. Now, sawdust is not as simple as one might think: If packed too densely, the purpose of it is defeated as it is not using enough oxygen. On the other hand, if sawdust is used loose, it will use up too much oxygen and only smolder. In the end I packed sawdust under the water tank with accurate pressure and it burned for too little before self extinguishing and leaving a bed of clean, unused, warm sawdust under the burned up portion. This concluded the gained knowledge for today.
Week 6-November 8
I once thought the world would be kinder. I did not have to use expedient methods in this kind world. That's when my project and reality collided. I had to resort to cheating and using lighter fluid. Next, I found that cheating only gets you so far. The raging Hell fire (the tiny flames produced) lives fast and dies young. Yes, lighter fluid combusts very nicely, but it was a disappointment to see it last only just longer than Romeo and Juliet.
Week 7
Maybe i have to rethink my position/approach. I though it to be possible to the change model layout. Around the water tank are metal strips held down by rivets. What I did next, I predicted correctly would not be pleasant. I find myself minutes later realizing that it hurts both my feelings and my fingers to undo them. I am a future engineer damn it, have the right to have feelings for these kinds of things. Either way, I re-positioned the water tank so I could place a Bunsen burner under to keep a real flame alive. After a few short minutes, I had a running engine and a very positive satisfaction over me.
Week 8
Am i doing the right thing here? Am i defeating the purpose of something/anything here? Did i do wrong and so, by definition, did i just defile the model. In hopes of cheering myself up, I researched standardization. Joseph Whitword (the man with the face of a baboon) makes/invents the micrometer, which is pretty important. This is far into the life of the steam engine, meaning entire countries grew and prospered without standardization. So, who am I to think I a doing wrong by re-positioning a water tank? Did I defiled it? Yes. And created my own advantage in the process? Very much so.
Week 9-November 15
When i changed the layout of the model, I worried right after my burner exhausted it's fuel. Where are the limits of my newly gained advantage? I must start working without a stove. If I start using this method the Bunsen burner will become the standard for outside/independent demonstrations. I have done research, and found the solution to the inefficiency of wood. As it turns out, small pieces of wood not only look puny, but also have a puny amount of function. This is when I looked up a video on model steam engines, and saw that I could use cooking fuel. After acquiring cooking fuel, everything ran smoothly and successfully.
Week 10-November 22
I have a hard time presenting things in public. How did the people who invented (anything) it do it? How should I? Now that we really don't rely on it to carry out the population's work, can the steam engine seem relevant?. I wish to use the approach with the "oooh, shiny" reaction by viewers-this is my goal. The steam engine, I would say, is only a source of entertainment nowadays. At any rate, I messed on up the fuel from the beginning, and I am ever so glad I found out.