Heating the air creates airflow, and uses the airflow to push the axle to rotate. The lamp created based on this principle is a revolving lantern.
Insert a piece of iron wire into a square or round paper lantern to make a vertical shaft. An impeller is installed above the shaft. Two cross thin iron wires are installed in the center of the shaft. At each end of the iron wire, people and horses are glued. Class paper cutouts. When the candles in the lantern are lit, the hot air rises and forms an air flow, which drives the impeller to rotate, so the paper-cut rotates with the wheel axis. Their shadows are cast onto the paper lantern covers. From the outside, it looks like the scene of "chariots and horses galloping, and endless groups" described in the book "The Years of Yanjing" in the late Qing Dynasty.
Although the revolving lantern is a toy, its principle is exactly the same as that of modern gas turbines.
Extended information:
Historical source:
Around 1000 AD, the Chinese created the revolving lantern. Many ancient books contain descriptions of revolving lanterns. There is a flat impeller on the revolving lantern, with a burning candle or lamp underneath. The hot air rises to drive the impeller to rotate. This is the original application of the working principle of modern gas turbines. ?
On the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month, it is a folk custom to hang lanterns, and revolving lanterns are one of them. The shape is mostly like a palace lantern, with a round of paper-cut glue on the inside, and the painted pattern is pasted on it. After the lamp is burned, the hot air rises and the spokes of the paper wheel rotate, and images of people and horses chasing each other, objects changing and scenery changing appear on the lamp screen. There were revolving lanterns in the Song Dynasty, which were called "horse-riding lanterns" at that time.
The Metabolic Sect of the Yuan Dynasty can chant a poem about walking lanterns: "The flying wheel is supported by the flame spirit, flying around the city that never sleeps, the wind hyena chases the stars and makes a shadow, the frost hoof chases the lightning and goes away silently. The Qin army defeated Xianyang fire at night , Wu Juxiao galloped with soldiers on the red wall; moreover, he recalled the days when he was young in Diaoan, and Zhang Tai stepped on the moonlight brightly. "Because there are many pictures of ancient military commanders riding horses on each side of the lamp, and when the lamp is turned, it looks like several people are chasing each other. , hence the name revolving lantern.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Revolving Lantern