AQUA IMBRE

INTRODUCTION

Assalamualaikum and a very good morning I bid to the honourable judges and all present. I am

Adriana, Fatin, Raihanah and Yasmin. We’re from Sekolah Menengah Sains Seri Puteri, Kuala Lumpur

and for today, we’ll be introducing you to our project that is the Aqua Imbre. The name itself brings a

meaning of “water spray” in Latin. Aqua Imbre is actually a fountain or a hydraulic machine invented by

the 1st century AD inventor Heron of Alexandria. It functions like how a normal fountain would except it

only uses water and air pressure instead of electricity

OBJECTIVE

Now, the main objective of this project is to study the function of a fountain using Heron’s

principles of hydraulics and pneumatics. Hydraulics is the mechanical function that operates through

the force of liquid pressure. Pneumatics is an aspect of physics and engineering that is concerned

with using the energy in compressed gas to make something move or work. Basically, hydraulics is water

pressure whereas pneumatic is air pressure.

LITERATURE REVIEW

We decided to follow the concept of Heron’s fountain so we started to search for idea videos on

how it works and how to build it. From YouTube, we found a lot of people trying to build it using various

types of resources. As this project use recyclable items, we decided to follow a youtuber named, The Q

who built this using recyclable items. We followed the steps to create a basic heron’s fountain based on

the video but then, the fountain was not infinite. So, we did further research and improvised it by

adding an extra straw connecting both of the bottles in order to make it non-stop.
METHODOLOGY

Next, the methodology of this project. Firstly, we prepare all the items required to build this

fountain. Two plastic bottles, a plastic bowl, 8 plastic straws, 1ℓ of water and the tools needed are scissors,

hot glue gun and drill. Secondly, take the first and second bottle and drill two holes on both of the caps.

Then, connect two bendable straws together and glue it into one hole from each bottle. After that, drill a

hole on the bottom side of each bottles and put a straw connecting both of them. Glue it to make it airtight.

Next, take the bowl and make two holes on the bottom. Connect two straws and stick it inside the

remaining hole of the first bottle and connect it to one of the holes under the bowl. Glue the straws to

the bottle and bowl to secure them in place. Last but not least, connect two bendable straws and insert it

into the remaining holes on the second bottle and the bowl.

FINDINGS

During the process of making this project, we encountered a lot of challenges. During our first try

in making this fountain, the fountain kept leaking water which makes the water unable to come out

properly. We think this is caused by our carelessness when using the glue gun. The hot tip of the glue gun

might accidentally come in contact with the straw thus melting it, making a hole on the straw. We also

found another problem in which the fountain did not work continuously. This is because the water level

in the second bottle kept reducing until it was eventually finished thus stopping the fountain.

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7 We then decided to change the fountain’s design to the one we are showcasing right now. On our

second try, the fountain leaked and clogged. We, again, changed the design to a design that we thought
was creative. Finally, we succeed in building the fountain without any mistakes. Moving on to the

production cost, the price of the plastic bottle is RM 5.60. The straws are around RM 0.20. The plastic

bowl cost RM 0.50. If you add all the price together, the production cost is only RM 6.30.

DISCUSSION

The concept of hydraulics and pneumatics is applied to our fountain. (?)

CONCLUSION

As to conclude, this project proves Heron’s study on the relativity of hydraulics and pneumatics.

We also believe that fountains that operates the same way as this fountain we created which only uses

both water and air pressure to function would be much cheaper and environmental friendly than the

fountains that requires the motor to function properly. We also believe that fountains which operates

using water and air pressure only should be used more frequently simply because it doesn’t use electricity

to function which would save more electricity for our future needs.

FUTURE INNOVATION

In the future, we might improve our project by changing the materials used. As an example,

instead of using plastic straws, bottles and bowls, we could use terracotta pots and hard plastic tubes.

This will be an improvement compared to the original idea since it is stronger and able to withstand high

water pressure.
Lost and found:

In our project, we used 4 items which are plastic bottles, plastic bowls, plastic bendable straws and water.
We decided to use plastic bottles, bowls and straws because they are cheap, recyclable and easy to find.
We use water because a fountain would not work without the presence of water. Although we used hot
glue gun and driller in this project, we did not include it in the list because we only use it to connect all
the parts drill holes on the bottle cap.

During the process of making this project, we encountered a lot of challenges. During our first try in
making this fountain, the fountain keeps leaking water which makes the water unable to come out
properly. We also found another problem in which the fountain will not work continuously. We then
decided to change the fountain’s design to one we are showcasing right now. On our second try, the
fountain is leaking and clogged. We, again, changed the design to a design that we think is creative. Finally,
we succeed in building the fountain without any mistakes.
But then, how does it work? Here’s how it functions: First and foremost, when water is poured to any of
the bowls- it does not matter which bowl because in the end, it will eventually end up in the last bowl,
the water on the last bowl would flow into the first straw and enter the first bottle that is the ‘air supplier’.
The first bottle which in the first place had more air and less water in it, would receive the water that was
poured on the first bowl. Since originally, there is no space for the water to be in the bottle, the air that
was in the bottle would be forced to transfer to the second bottle that is the ‘water supplier’ for the
fountain. Then, when the second bottle receives the air, the air pressure in the second bottle would push
the water through the last straw. Thus, the fountain would work. Last but not least, when the water flows
out from the last straw, it would then flow through the bowls until it reaches the last bowl. Thus, the cycle
continues.

Moving on to the production cost, the price of the plastic bottle is RM 5.60. The straws are around RM

0.20. The plastic bowl cost RM 1.50. If you add all the price together, the production cost is only RM 7.30.