In the early 1600s, scientists were facing a theoretical and practical problem: a pump could only raise water up to a height of 10 metres (34 ft). Galileo[/iurl] argued that suction pumps were able to draw water from a well because of the "force of vacuum." This argument, however, failed to explain the fact that suction pumps could only raise water to a height of 10 metres. Then an Italian man (student of Galileo) solved this puzzle by proposing that we live in a "sea of air" that exerts a pressure and then invented the That great Italian man is our "scientist of the day" today.
It's the birthday of EvangelistaTorricelli[/iurl], the first man to create a sustained vacuum --
(Scientist of the Day - 15 October)
Torricelli was fascinated by astronomy and was a student & strong supporter of Galileo. After Galileo's trial in 1633, he realised that he would be on dangerous ground were he to continue with his interests in the Copernican[/iurl] theory so he deliberately shifted his attention onto mathematical areas which seemed less controversial.
In 1643, Torricelli filled a meter-long tube (with one end sealed off) with mercury[/iurl] (13 times denser than water) and setting it vertically into a basin of the liquid metal. The column of mercury fell to about 76 cm (30 inch), producing a Torricellian vacuum above. This was the first recorded incident of creating permanent vacuum[/iurl]. This work laid the foundations for the modern concept of atmospheric pressure, the first barometer and the first pressure altimeter.
The solution to the suction pump puzzle and the discovery of the principle of the barometer and altimeter have perpetuated Torricelli's fame with terms such as "Torricellian tube" & "Torricellian vacuum".
