Water Wheel

water power · machines · history

Water does the work. A water wheel uses the energy of flowing or falling water to spin a giant wheel with buckets or blades on it, kind of like how wind spins a windmill.

Powering mills. Water wheels were used to grind grain into flour at gristmills, crush rocks into powder, pound metal, and break down wood fibers to make paper and cloth.

Modern machines need it. Before electric motors were invented, water wheels were one of the main ways people powered factories and mills, and some were still being used through the 1900s.

Buckets catch water. The wheel's rim had buckets or flat blades attached around the edge that water would push on, making the whole wheel spin around and around continuously.