(89.)

When the piston is at the top of the cylinder, and about to commence its motion downwards, the steam acting upon it will have not only to overcome the resistance arising from the friction of the various parts of the engine, but will also have to put in motion the whole mass of matter of the piston pump rods, pump pistons, and the column of water in the pump barrels. Besides imparting to this mass the momentum corresponding to the velocity with which it will be moved, it will also have to encounter the resistance due to the preponderance of the weight of the water and pump rods over that of the steam piston. The pressure of steam, therefore, upon the piston at the commencement of the stroke must, in accordance with the mechanical principles just explained, have a greater force than is equal to all the resistances which it would have to overcome, supposing the mass to be moving at a uniform velocity. The moving force, therefore, being greater than the resistance, the mass, when put in motion, will necessarily move with a gradually augmented speed, and the piston of the engine which has been described in the last chapter would necessarily move from the top to the bottom of the cylinder with an accelerated motion, having at the moment of its arrival at the bottom a greater velocity than at any other part of the stroke. As the piston and all the matter which it has put in motion must at this point come to rest, the momentum of the moving mass must necessarily expend itself on some part of the machinery, and would be so much mechanical force lost. It is evident, therefore, independently of any consideration of the expansive principle, to which we shall presently refer, that the action of the [Pg160] moving power in the descent of the piston ought to be suspended before the arrival of the piston at the bottom of the cylinder, in order to allow the momentum of the mass which is in motion to expend itself, and to allow the piston to come gradually to rest at the termination of the stroke.

Thus, if we were to suppose that after the piston had descended through three fourths of the whole length of the cylinder, and had acquired a certain velocity, the steam above it were suddenly condensed, so as to leave a vacuum both above and below it, the piston, being then subject to no impelling force, would still move downwards, in virtue of the momentum it had acquired, until the resistance would deprive it of that momentum, and bring it to rest; and if the remaining fourth part of the cylinder were necessary for the accomplishment of this, then it is evident that that part of the stroke would be accomplished without further expenditure of the moving power.

In fact, this part of the stroke would be made by the expenditure of that excess of moving power, which, at the commencement of the stroke, had been employed in putting the machinery and its load in motion, and in subsequently accelerating that motion.

Although under such circumstances the resistance, during the operation of the moving power, shall not have been at any time equal to the moving power, since while the motion was accelerated it was less, and while retarded greater than that power, yet as the whole moving power has been expended upon the resistance, the mechanical effect which the moving power has produced under such circumstances will be equal to the actual amount of that power. If in an engine of this kind the steam was not cut off till the conclusion of the stroke, a part of the moving power would be lost upon those fixed points in the machinery which would sustain the shock produced by the instantaneous cessation of motion at the end of the stroke.

Independently, therefore, of any consideration of the expansive principle, it appears that, in an engine of this kind, the steam ought to be cut off before the completion of the stroke. [Pg161]

Fig. 28.