Without a doubt one of the greatest technological achievements and a direct application of a scientific principle is that of hydraulics. They are one of the many systems that we use that have shaped the world we live in today. Let’s start with the principle laid down by Blasie Pascal first and foremost. Simply put if you exert pressure on a liquid it will distribute that pressure equally through the entire fluid. This means you have a way of controlling that pressure and using it to move things in an orderly manner.
So, if you take a Hydraulic Winch for example the force that you use at one end pushes the fluid to another. This pushes the winch allowing it to pull the object. Hydraulics allow you to control the amount of pressure and the speed at which the object is pulled. It also allows you to decrease or increase that pressure so as to control the speed of the movement.
The issue becomes how much pressure actually required and the size of the hydraulic involved. The larger the weight you want to move the larger the amount of pressure you will need. This is why hydraulic tools and components come in a variety of sizes.
