Pump

pump, a device that expends energy in order to raise, transport, or compress fluids. The earliest pumps were devices for raising water, such as the Persian and Roman waterwheels and the more sophisticated Archimedes screw (q.v.).

The mining operations of the Middle Ages led to development of the suction (piston) pump, many types of which are described by Georgius Agricola in De re metallica (1556). A suction pump works by atmospheric pressure; when the piston is raised, creating a partial vacuum, atmospheric pressure outside forces water into the cylinder, whence it is permitted to escape by an outlet valve. Atmospheric pressure alone can force water to a maximum height of about 34 feet (10 metres), so the force pump was developed to drain deeper mines. In the force pump the downward stroke of the piston forces water out through a side valve to a height that depends simply on the force applied to the piston.