| The
Museum of Lead Mining
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| The
Museum of Lead Mining
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| Lead Acid Battery | Beam Engine | Abacus |
Click on the image to see a larger version of the drawings..
| How Does it Work? | Lead Acid Battery |
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A standard 12v car battery is made up of 6 - 2v cells. These are connected together. The cells are made up of electrodes which are lead grills that are positively and negatively charged. The positive electrode is called the anode and is filled with lead-oxide paste. The negative electrode is called the cathode and is filled with lead paste. The plates are stored in a solution of sulphuric acid which is the 'electrolyte'. The cell discharges electrons when the acid slowly changes the lead in the plates into lead sulphate. An electric current then flows if the terminals are connected through a conductor. When an electric current is being drawn from a battery we say it is being discharged. Lead acid batteries are rechargeable. |
| How Does it Work? | Beam Engine |
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The power to work the engine was provided by filling the wooden bucket
with water, which in turn
then pulled the beam upwards operating the pump that drew up water from
the mine.
The bucket was then emptied allowing the beam to return to the top of it’s stroke, where the bucket was refilled and the cycle repeated. |
| How Does it Work? | Abacus |
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An abacus is a method of counting using rows of coloured balls on a simple wire frame. An early version of a calculator and no batteries required, only finger power! |
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