Chinese Inventions Packet - Wyoming City Schools

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SeismographZhang Heng designed the world's first seismograph.A seismograph is used to detect earthquakes. Zhang Heng'sseismography couldn't tell you the size of the earthquake but itwas able to detect even small earthquakes which could nototherwise be felt.The seismograph was made out of bronze and shaped likea large pot or vase. Around the outside of thecontainer were eight dragon heads that weremade of bronze. In each dragon's mouthwas a small bronze ball. When anearthquake occurred the smallball would fall from the dragon'smouth and land in a smallcontainer below. Thiswould alert scientists thatan earthquake had taken.place. Often the scientistscould even tell where the quake hadhappened! The dragon which haddropped the ball was often facing in thedirection in which the earthquake hadoccurred!How Did It Work?Unfortunately, Zhang Heng'soriginal seismograph hasnever been found sohistorians have to rely ondescriptions of it in order tofigure out how it worked.Scientists believe thatthere was probably a thinmetal pole with a heavyweight at the top which wasbalanced in the middle ofthe vessel. At the top of thecontainer was a sheet ofbronze with eight slots cutin it leading to each of theeight dragon heads on theoutside. When an earthquakeoccurred, the metalpole would tip over andslide down one of the slotscausing the dragon to dropits ball. Because it hadslid down one of the slots,it would get stuck and noteffect any of the otherdragons. Only one dragondropped its ball!
PaperWe use paper every day of ourlives and in many differentways. Paper is not just forbooks or for writing. We usepaper as money, we use paperto wrap presents, we use it fordecoration, we even usepaper in the bathroom. Sodid the Chinese. The oldestpaper ever discovered is over2000 years old and was foundinside a tomb built during theHan Dynasty.Paper is made bytaking wet plant fibers fromtree bark or bamboo plantsand pounding them with awooden tool. You then pourthis mixture onto a flat pieceof woven cloth and allow allof the water the drain through.Think about the way that hairand soap collect on a showerdrain. When the mixture dries,you can separate it from thecloth and you have a lightweightwriting surface!I Thought the Egyptianshad Invented Paper!The Egyptians wrote onpapyrus. Papyrus wasinvented by the Egyptiansand was made from the stalkof the Papyrus plant.At first, the Chinese didn't use the paper for writing. At the time,writing was done on bamboo scrolls, wood, stone, or even silk.Instead the paper was used like cloth. People made paper jacketsand hats. Some people even made paper armor by folding togetherthick pieces of paper. It was lightweight and it doesn't rust but justmake sure it doesn't rain! Eventually the Chinese started usingpaper as a writing surface and made scrolls, books and ultimatelyinvented printing.
Page 1: CompassThe Chinese believed that th
Page 6 and 7: GunpowderMany ancient scientists in

Chinese Inventions Packet - Wyoming City Schools

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