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| Hydro Energy |
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| Water, being a vital resource for all living beings, is also an important source of energy. Hydropower supplies 6% of the world's energy needs. Moving water is highly energized. A hand held into a fast flowing stream can feel the pressure of water trying to push the hand along. |
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| Overshot Water Wheel |
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| Before the discovery of steam engines, water-wheels were the primary source of mechanical power. |
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| The basic design of the water-wheel consists of a large wheel with a number of blades at the periphery. The wheel is kept in the path of the flowing water in such a way that the water falls on one of the blades. Each of the blades fixed around the wheel is pushed by the moving water to make the wheel turn. |
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| Waterwheels were used for the following purposes: |
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 Grinding food grains |
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 Operating water pumps |
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 Driving looms |
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 Operating bellows for furnaces used in metallurgy and forging |
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 Operating sawmills which cut timber for making planks. |
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| The force of a fast flowing river is very strong. Great skill is needed to control a canoe in such conditions. |
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