A photo from open sources In 132, Zhang Heng introduced the imperial Han Dynasty courtyard is the world’s first seismoscope. According to reports A copy of the seismoscope created in 2005 records earthquakes with the same accuracy as modern appliances. Historical chronicles they tell about the great accuracy of the device, although its device remains a riddle. Appearance and operation is understandable, but internal the device remains a mystery. Based on the assumptions of scientists and were built copies. 
Photos from open sources
The most commonly accepted theory is that the pendulum inside the copper the vessel came into motion during an earthquake, even if it happened over hundreds of miles. The pendulum powered system leverage that opened the mouth of one of the eight dragons on the outside of the vessel. In the mouth of every dragon was a bronze ball. This ball rolled out and fell into the mouth under dragon frogs, making a loud ringing. Dr. Jan Payak of Wellington Institute of Technology wrote in an article prepared for the International Conference on Measuring devices in 2005, which, according to historical data, ringing in the mouth the frogs were so loud that they could wake everyone. Dragon with open mouth indicated the direction – where the earthquake occurred. Eight dragons pointed east, west, north, south, northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest. In my time the invention was initially met with skepticism, despite the fact that that Zhang Heng was a recognized scientist, chief astronomer imperial court. In 138, the bronze ball first gave the signal anxiety. He heralded that west of the capital Luoyang happened earthquake. No one in Luoyang felt the jolts, therefore the alarm was not given importance. However a few days later in Luoyang arrived a messenger from the west and reported what happened in his area earthquake. An earthquake occurred at a time when an alarm sounded. Longsi City at a Distance 300 miles from Luoyang, was completely destroyed. Feng Rui and Yu Yan Xiang from Institute of Geophysics under the Office of Seismology of the PRC in 2006 concluded that the first earthquake recorded Han’s device, occurred on December 13, 134 in the city of Longsi with the epicenter in Tianshui and had a magnitude of 7 points. Destination the mechanism was to record earthquakes in remote areas, to send help there. The device functioned until it died. its inventor. Obviously, the device was so complex that only Han could work with him. The seismoscope was called “Houfen Didun and “, which means” a device for measuring seasonal winds and movement Earth. “Modern attempts to recreate the device have had a variable success, they were built on the use of inertia, an integral principle of modern seismographs. Dr. Payak explains this the use of inertia in this case: “This principle of inertia that an earthquake shakes the frame of the device, so thus, this frame shifts with respect to the inertial pendulum, and this displacement is recorded as an earthquake indicator. ” Attempts to recreate In the book “Reconstruction of the Lost ancient Chinese mechanisms “Hong Sen Yan mentions that in 1939 Japanese scientist Akitsune Imamura built an exact copy of the mechanism, which confirmed the effectiveness of the seismoscope. However, as noted Hong Sen, “in some cases the direction of the earthquake epicenter was at right angles to the ball “. In 2005 several scientists from the Academy of Sciences of the PRC, the National Museum and China Seismology Directorate Announces New Copy the best. “This model represents our most accurate understanding. ancient mechanism, “said Teng Jiwen, a scientist Institute of Geology and Geophysics, as reported in the government People’s Daily Periodical. According to reports, a copy mechanism reacted to reproduced waves of four real earthquakes in Tangshan, Yunnan, Qinghai-Tibet highlands and in vietnam. After comparing the readings of the copy of the mechanism with modern earthquake diagrams have been confirmed by them accuracy, and the form coincided with that described in historical chronicles. Hong Sen’s internal arrangement brought an excerpt from modern Zhang Han biography, the first description of the invention left for us in historical chronicles: “Inside in the center is a pillar, near which there are eight transmission rods. ” stocks, obviously, are the channels along which a certain an object, Hong Sen explained, but nothing more specific about stocks it was not written. Dr. Payak holds a different theory. He’s writing, that in historical chronicles it is mentioned that inside the mechanism was the water that flowed from the mouth of the dragons into a fountain. He put forward the theory that water flowed smoothly (unlike a turbulent flow), what is called a laminar flow. Vessel shape (parabolic) designed to deflect vibrations from the earthquake zone. Deviated vibrations focused on the pipe inlet in the appropriate direction, causing water to push the ball out graze the dragon. Robert Reiterman, Executive Director Earthquake-Resistant University Consortium construction, in his book Earthquakes and Construction: international history “questioned historical information about the accuracy of the mechanism. He wrote: “At close the distance the whole device will get such a shake that the balls on numerous coasters will pile up in a heap. At the [far] distance the movement of the earth does not leave clear marks indicating the direction where did these fluctuations come from, because by the time they reach the device, the earth fluctuates rather randomly in different directions. “If the appliance worked as well as described in historical chronicles and if the success of using some modern copies implies that the mechanism could work with such accuracy, then Han’s genius remains incomprehensible to us. Some of Han’s other accomplishments include counting the number of pi in limits between 3.1466 and 3.1622, improvement of counting time of a device known as a “water clock” and application hydraulic driving force to rotate an astronomical instrument called the armillary sphere.
Water Time Dragons Earthquakes China
