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      You’ve solved the Leibniz Actionbound - here is your prize

      Popcorn Screw Tutorial

      To commemorate the 375th birthday of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (*July 1, 1646), an interactive Leibniz Actionbound tour entitled "In Search of Leibniz's Legacy" was developed. Leibniz invites you to a digital garden rally at Herrenhausen Gardens. Those who find his legacy will be rewarded with this craft tutorial.

      Two Children © Simone Hervatin (Quelle: INitiative Wissenschaft Hannover)

      Rebuild the "Archimedean Screw" with the "Popcorn Screw" tutorial.

      The "Archimedean Screw"

      Back in the 3rd century BC, Archimedes, the Greek mathematician and engineer, was already making use of spiral-shaped screw pumps, which is why they were named after him. They are also known as screw conveyors because they were used to transport water to a higher level, i.e. vertically from the bottom to the top. Archimedean screws were also used early on to drain the land in the Netherlands.

      Windmills in mining

      Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz also invented technical machinery. Mining was a high-tech industry in the 17th century, and for the dukes of Hannover, silver from the Harz mines was a lucrative source of income. Leibniz gave a lot of thought to improving silver mining in the Harz Mountains. One of his ideas was to make use of the Archimedes' screw: water was an important source of energy in mining, because it moved the large wheels that powered the machines. Leibniz came up with the ingenious idea of recycling water after use. He collected water that had already run over the large wheels in pools and transported it back up to the water wheels with the help of Archimedean screws driven by windmills.

      Leibniz’s “horizontal wind art“

      Leibniz invented a special windmill for this purpose which he called “horizontal wind art“.

      Because the blades of the windmill were arranged horizontally inside a ring of rigid guide screens, the wind could enter the windmill from all sides to move the blades. A very useful feature, as it meant that the windmill did not have to be turned into the wind.

      By combining the horizontal windmill and the Archimedean screw, Leibniz wanted to save water in the Harz Mountains. This was a very progressive idea because water was scarce in the Upper Harz. Nevertheless, the machines needed to be powered so that mining – the people's livelihood – could continue. In the 17th century, all energy was generated by water, wind, or muscle power.

      Popcorn Screw Tutorial