The Secret Life of Machines (series#2)(episodes1to6of6)(1991).txt
http://www.secretlifeofmachines.com/
Secret Life Of Machines 201 The Car.avi
Secret Life Of Machines 202 Internal Bustion Engine.avi
Secret Life Of Machines 203 The Quartz Watch.avi
Secret Life Of Machines 204 The Telephone.avi
Secret Life Of Machines 205 The Radio.avi
Secret Life Of Machines 206 The Video Recorder.avi
(215MB Each)
THE SECRET LIFE OF MACHINES
by Tim Hunkin
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Just how does a video recorder work? And how about fax machines, cars, washing machines, electric light, telephones, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators? You'll find the answers here. This site is designed as a companion to the TV series 'The Secret Life Of Machines' written by Tim Hunkin, and presented by Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod.
Series Two: (1991)
Cars
Internal Combustion Engine
Quartz Watch
Telephones
Radio Set
Video Recorders
The Secret Life of the Car:
Cars started to become popular in the 1890s. Their success was partly due to the bicycle, which had given people a taste for a personal means of transport. It was also due to Daimler's high speed engine, the first internal combustion engine to be small enough not to make a vehicle ridiculously cumbersome.
The Secret Life of the Internal Combustion Engine:
The first internal combustion engine was made by a Frenchman called Etienne Lenoir in 1859. He simply modified a steam engine to suck in and ignite the inflammable gas from his gas lights. Unfortunately the explosions were very violent and the engine was very inefficient.
The Secret Life of the Quartz Watch:
All clocks and watches work by 'counting' some event which takes a fixed period of time, like the swings of a pendulum. The higher it goes the stronger the pull of gravity and the faster it comes back - so the swings always take a fixed time. The Quartz crystal in a watch vibrates at a fixed speed in a similar way.
The Secret Life of the Telephone:
The forerunner of the telephone was the telegraph. By 1870 all major towns in Europe and America had telegraphs, sending messages in 'on' and 'off' pulses (e.g. Morse code). It was while trying to improve the telegraph that Bell discovered the telephone.
The Secret Life of the Radio Set:
Any electrical spark creates radio waves and acts as a transmitter. You hear sparks on a radio as interference. That's why lighting makes radios crackle, and even the tiny spark in a switch is enough to make a noise on the radio when turning on a light.
The Secret Life of the Video Recorder:
The principle of magnetic recording was invented by a Danish telephone engineer called Valdemar Poulsen in 1899. He used an electromagnet to record the tiny electric currents from a telephone to magnetise a steel wire. This recreated tiny currents in the electromagnet when it was replayed. All tape and video recorders still work this way.
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