A paddle wheel is a form of

waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...

or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

s at no more than about height above the water source. * To move and mix algae culture in the raceway ponds used for algaculture. * Propulsion of watercraft (as a paddlewheel) *

Low head hydro power Low-head hydropower refers to the development of hydroelectric power where the head is typically less than 20 metres, although precise definitions vary. Head is the vertical height measured between the hydro intake water level and the water level ...

(as a waterwheel) * Flow sensors * Aerators The paddle wheel is an ancient invention but is still used today in a wide range of industrial and agriculture applications.

Ship propulsion

Paddle wheels would enable ships to travel without needing wind or oars. They were made obsolete by propellers, which had greater propulsion with lower weight and fuel usage. This was demonstrated by an 1845

tug-of-war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

competition between and with the screw-driven ''Rattler'' pulling the paddle steamer ''Alecto'' backward at .Propeller versus Paddle: The Tug of War between HMS Rattler and the Alecto
Bow Creek to Anatahan.

Physics

The paddle wheel is a device for converting between rotary motion of a shaft and linear motion of a fluid. In the linear-to-rotary direction, it is placed in a fluid stream to convert the linear motion of the fluid into rotation of the wheel. Such a rotation can be used as a source of power, or as an indication of the speed of flow. In the rotary-to-linear direction, it is driven by a prime mover such as an electric motor or

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

and used to pump a fluid or propel a vehicle such as a

paddle-wheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

or a

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

References

{{reflist Watermills Pumps