water wheel

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water wheel

water wheel device for utilizing the power of flowing or falling water. The Norse wheel is the oldest type known. Despite its name it probably originated in the Middle East, where the swift stream required by this type of wheel is common. The Norse wheel has a vertical shaft directly connected at the top to a millstone; the lower end of the shaft, with vanes or paddles attached, dips into the flowing stream. In the 1st cent. BC a horizontal shaft came into use; the wheel attached to it had radial vanes around its edge. Among the early forms of this wheel are the overshot wheel, used where water falls from a height, striking the vanes from above; the breast wheel, employed where the height of the water is less than the height of the wheel so that the water strikes the wheel about midway; and the undershot wheel, usable where the water flows more or less on a level but with a swift current and strikes the vanes on the under part of the wheel. One of the first uses of the steam engine was to drive a pump that raised water into a millpond whose spillway drove a water wheel. Today the water wheel has been largely replaced by the turbine . See hydraulic machine .

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"water wheel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 18 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"water wheel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 18, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-waterwhe.html

"water wheel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 18, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-waterwhe.html

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water-wheel

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture | 2000 | | Â© A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

water-wheel. Wheel driven by water, either falling from above, or passing underneath.

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JAMES STEVENS CURL. "water-wheel." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Oxford University Press. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 18 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JAMES STEVENS CURL. "water-wheel." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Oxford University Press. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (December 18, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-waterwheel.html

JAMES STEVENS CURL. "water-wheel." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Oxford University Press. 2000. Retrieved December 18, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-waterwheel.html

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waterwheel

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | © The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

wa·ter·wheel / ˈwôtərˌ(h)wēl; ˈwä-/ • n. a large wheel driven by flowing water, used to work machinery or to raise water to a higher level.

waterwheel

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	GALLERY: Water, wheels and will power at Chichester triathlon. Newspaper article from: Chichester Observer (Chicheste, England); 7/23/2008
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	Insight into Belper's water wheel. Newspaper article from: Belper News (Belper, England); 6/17/2008

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