Expository Piece

In the Industrial Revolution there were two main resources, that without there would be no progress. These were coal and steam. Each of these had huge importance in the I.R.

The arguably the most important invention during the I.R was steam power. Steam power was first captured by Thomas Savery. He made the first engine in 1698. This first engine was very basic It had no moving parts and worked on a vacuum system. Also it was very weak and barely made any power. It was called a miners friend, as the inventor intended it to pump water out of mines. Next was Thomas Newcomen’s engine. Although this was more powerful it consumed huge amounts of coal and could only be used to pump out water from coal mines. Finally in 1878 a engine came that would change the ways of the I.R for ever. It was a revolutionary engine invented by James Watt. This engine was more powerful and consumed less coal. But mainly it was the rotary movement of this engine that allowed it to be used it mills and factories. This engine also led to the development of the train.

Coal was the fuel for the I.R. Before the invention of the steam engine if coal reserve was found, it could not be exploited very far. If miners went deep there would be too much water. After the invention though miners could go a lot deeper. But soon they were confronted by another problem. The gases found in the deeper parts were sometimes explosive. The lanterns used by miners would ignite and explode the gases. Many men died like this until William Reid Clanny devised a safety lamp. This would detect any gases. Coal was used to power steam engines and later on trains. The demand for coal was huge. Coal was mined for many centuries from then until other alternatives came, although mining continues today.