Fountain of Herón

A Source of Heron is a device invented by the mathematician Heron of Alexandria during the first century that consists of a source that works under pressure without any alternative energy that drives the water.

However, and contrary to what can be thought, this mechanism does not keep running perpetually, because after a few minutes the water jet stops. This will be explained later.

¡Let's make a Fountain of Heron!

To make a Heron Fountain you will need the following materials:

• A plastic bowl.
• Two bottles of plastic soda.
• A flexible plastic tube.

• A base of support for the bowl.
• A waterproof glue (You can use silicone).

Steps to make the Fountain of Herón:

1. It is important that you use the base of the bowl to elevate it over the other two plastic bottles.

2. Make a hole in the plastic bowl and two holes in each of the soda bottles.

3. Insert the plastic tube into the bowl and glue it with the waterproof glue.

4. Take the other end of the plastic tube that you hit in the bowl and insert it into one of the holes in one of the soda bottles (let's call it bottle # 1). This should reach almost to the bottom but without touching it.

5. Take another tube and insert it into the other hole of the same soft drink bottle (bottle # 1). This should not be inserted as deep as the previous one, leave it close to the surface.

6. The bottle no. 1 must be hermetically sealed, so you need to use waterproof glue to achieve this.

7. Now, take the tube that you inserted near the surface of the bottle no. 1 and insert it into the bottom of the other soft drink bottle (let's call it bottle number 2).

8. Take a last piece of the tube into the missing hole of bottle no. 2. This should be close to the surface inside the bottle and the other end should point to the center of the bowl, because that's where the water will come from. Remember that you must seal it tightly.

9. Now, the bottle no. 2 must be higher than the bottle nro. 1, because the bottle no. 2 will be responsible for the supply of the source and bottle no. 1 of the air supply.

10. Finally, little by little you have to fill the bowl with water and that's it, the Heron fountain would be complete.

¿Why does not the source work perpetually?

As you can see in the procedure, each of the containers fulfills a different function. Specifically, the bottle no. 2 is responsible for the supply of air, which is essential to boost the water from the source. When this container is filled, the source stops receiving the necessary impulse and finally the water loses strength until it stops working.

The Heron Fountain is a great experiment to discover how a hydraulic machine works in a simple way. ¡Try it!