Steam Machine

Hello everyone.

We are students from Colégio Marista de Brasília, and as part of a seminary, we'll teach you how to do a homemade steam machine, and also explain how it works.

You can also check our tutorial video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnlOWgOLLwI&feature=youtu.be

MATERIALS

Firstly, you'll have to arrange some materials (everything will be on the list below). An important reminder is that, if you choose to use something different than what's listed here, the machine may not work as expected.

- 1 styrofoam wheel with a 3 ~ 4 cm radius and 1 ~ 2 cm width;

- 1 glass of a pen (or any other circular object with similar radius);

- 1 deodorant can (! YOU HAVE TO REMOVE ALL THE PRESSURE AND WASH THE CAN AT LEAST 2 TIMES !)

- 2 stable objects with the same height;

- 4 or 6 pieces of aluminium can or plastic bottle (1 ~ 2 cm width x 4 ~ 5 cm heigth);

- Something capable to seal the can.

TUTORIAL

The first step consists on removing the cover of the can, leaving the top completely open. Then, you'll have to seal it (in our case we used a mass) funnel-shaped, leaving only one little hole with around 1 ~ 2 mm radius.

OBS: The smaller the hole, stronger the pressure, but, if it`s too small, the can may explode, so be sure that you have something with more than 1mm radius.

After finishing the step above, you`ll have already made the heart of the machine (the steam launcher). So, now let's attach the "propellers" to the styrofoam wheel, that will make it spin when the pressurized steam reach the proppelers.

For this, you need to mark 4 or 6 equidistant lines with a pen/pencil (depending of the number of propellers you choose to use). Then, you will cut the styrofoam wheel on these lines, with 1.5 cm deep, using something as thin as possible. After making the cuts, only fit the bottle/can pieces in it, and the steam receiver will be completely finished.

Now that you have both the steam launcher and the steam receiver, you only need to do a support to them. To this final step, you need the circular object (pen glass) and the supports (in this case, we choosed 2 cups). Use the pen to make a hole in the styrofoam, and in one side you'll uphold the pen with one cup, and the same at the other side.

With all structural issues solved, you only need to boil the water inside the deodorant can, and aim the hole on the top of it to one proppeler of the styrofoam wheel. When the liquid water turns into steam, it will be highly pressurized because of the funnel-shaped top, and will acquire a lot of cinetic energy, enough to spin the wheel.

Thank you, and enjoy the machine!!

Raphael Müller, Matheus Lobo, Matheus Mesquita, Aroldo Júnior, Guilherme Mariano.