Vesipyörät

Vesipyörät, often translated as water wheels, are mechanical devices that harness the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water to perform work. They consist of a wheel with paddles or buckets arranged around its circumference. As water strikes these paddles or fills these buckets, it exerts a force that causes the wheel to rotate. This rotational motion can then be used to power various mechanical devices.

Historically, water wheels were a crucial source of power before the advent of steam engines and electricity. They were widely employed in agriculture for grinding grain, in industry for operating bellows in forges, powering sawmills, and for textile production. The design of a water wheel is typically adapted to the specific water source and the task it is intended to perform.

There are several main types of water wheels. Undershot wheels, the simplest design, are driven by the force of water flowing beneath them. Breastshot wheels are positioned so that the water strikes them about midway up their circumference, utilizing both the impact and the weight of the water. Overshot wheels are the most efficient, with water being introduced at the top of the wheel, filling buckets and driving the wheel through the force of gravity. While largely replaced by modern technology, water wheels remain an important symbol of early industrial innovation and their principles continue to influence modern hydropower generation.