What's inside Big Ben_ (Elizabeth Tower)

The Elizabeth Tower, also known as Big Ben, is the famous clock tower that is located in London, England. In this video, I want to show you the inside of the tower. We will see the different levels, the five bells inside and, of course, the mechanism that makes everything work. This video is sponsored by Omaze. When the tower was built for the first time, it was known as Clock Tower. But in 2012 it was officially called Elizabeth Tower. The name Big Ben actually refers to the largest bell inside. However, even to this day, many people still refer to the entire tower as Big Ben. Let's go to Europe. This is England. The Big Ben is right here in the city of London. The tower is actually part of a larger structure. This is the Westminster Palace. This is where the British Parliament meets to help lead the government. The palace is right on the banks of the River Thames. This is the Westminster Bridge, and on the other side of the river is the famous London Eye observation wheel. In fact, we are not far from Buckingham Palace. In this way, the Queen can see the tower from her residence. The tower was built in the 1840s and 1850s and took more than 10 years to complete. It was finally completed in 1859. However, there were some problems with the bells and it was not until 1862 that the clock was in full operation and the bells could be heard throughout the surrounding area. The clock was built to have a precision of 2 seconds, which is difficult considering that these hands are more than 4 meters long and are completely exposed to the weather. Never before had a clock tower like this been built. It was the first of its kind. For more than 150 years, the Big Ben has been working almost non-stop. It has survived two world wars and has become very well known all over the world. When you see it, you immediately know that you are in London, England. Look at the tower from one side and it is easy to forget that it actually has four watch faces, which makes it visible in any direction. The tower is 12 meters wide and 96 meters high. At the time the tower was built, it was one of the largest clock towers in the world, but that has been surpassed many times. In comparison, the largest clock tower is now the Abraj Al Bait in Saudi Arabia. The watch faces are also very different in size. For the last 150 years, the only way to get to the clock tower is to use the snail stairs. There are 334 steps to get to the top. However, they are currently installing an elevator in one of the open wells. It will be used for maintenance and security purposes. For now, let's focus on the stairs. There is a door here to the outside wall. This leads to a closed walkway that goes behind each of the four spheres of the clock. There is not much space here. This is the size of a person, so you can get an idea of ​​the scale. There are bulbs that light up at night to illuminate each sphere of the clock. Before they were lit with gas instead of electricity. Climb the stairs a little more and you will reach another door. This is the clock room. It supports the mechanism that makes the clock work. We will take a closer look at this later in the video. Climb the snail stairs even more and you will reach the bell tower, which is the room with all the bells. There are five of them. The large one in the center is officially called Big Ben. The four exterior bells are called Quarter Bells. You will notice that all the bells are of different sizes. When the hammer hits the side bell, it produces a musical note and the size of the bell determines what note it will play. Every 15 minutes, the Quarter Bells play part of what is known as Westminster Chimes. Then, once every hour, these Quarter Bells are followed by the hammer blow on the largest bell, the Big Ben. The number of bells indicates what time it is. For example, at three o'clock, the bell will ring three times. And, of course, there are even more stairs here. You can go up to the bell tower and see the bells from above. The bell tower, however, is not the highest place. You can climb these snail stairs to the top. This is the light of Ayrton. It lights up while the members of the parliament are gathered in the palace. Let's take a closer look at the mechanism below in the clock room. It is known as the movement of the clock, the mechanical part that makes it work. It works by gravity. I'll show you what I mean by that in just a minute. This type of clock is sometimes called a tower clock. On a smaller scale, it is called a pendulum clock. You can find versions of these in an antique store or even in your own house. If it has a pendulum that swings forward and backward, then it works in a very similar way to this clock tower. In the mechanism, there are three sections called trains. When I say the word train, I mean gear trains or gear groups that are joined together. So, in the mechanism, we have the hit train, the march train, and the bell train. They all have very specific responsibilities. The march train is in the center. It is in charge of turning the hands of each of the four dials. The bell train is on the right. It is in charge of ringing the four quarter bells every 15 minutes. The hit train is on the left. Every hour, this is in charge of making the Big Ben sound, the big bell in the center. Each of the three trains is driven by weight. There are three of them on the shaft directly below. Let's focus on the march train in the center. This is the one that turns the hands of the clock. The gears can only turn at a precise speed. This speed is controlled by the pendulum, the piece that swings slowly from one side to the other. It takes two full seconds to cross. Then you have what is called escape. There are three parts here, you have already seen the pendulum. Then there are the two gravity arms and the escape wheel. Let's focus only on the escape wheel. Without anything stopping it, it will turn uncontrollably due to the weight below. The two gravity arms will block the rotation of the escape wheel. But if you push one of the arms, it releases the wheel so that it turns a little before being trapped on the other side again. Now you push the other arm and the same happens on this side. If we switch from one side to the other, the wheel will turn at a controlled rate. This is where the pendulum comes into play. Every time it goes and comes, it makes the escape wheel turn a precise amount. The escape wheel is what makes that familiar tic-tac sound of the clock. Right in front there is a three-legged fan that catches the air to help reduce the speed of rotation. This rotation travels through the gears, goes up through this tilting axis and then these gears at the top, which are called conical gears. They divided the movement in four separate directions, towards each dial to move the hands of the clock. So this is the train of departure, which is basically responsible for timing the time. Now let's go to the bell train. Every 15 minutes the bell train starts running. You will notice that there are several cables connected here. These control the hammers on the four quarter bells. The cables go through the entire ceiling. There is a smaller room above called the cable room. These cables go up and connect directly to the hammers on the quarter bells. Look at what happens when you pull one of these cables. Move the levers that pull another cable that then lifts the hammer. When you release the cable, the bell rings. Each cable is connected to a lever below, and these levers go right next to the gear, and you will notice that these gear teeth are arranged in an interesting pattern. Once the gear is turning, these levers are thrown in the right order and time to create the Westminster bells. The repeat of these bells occurs once every 15 minutes. Here are five cables, but only four quarter bells. This is because one of the bells actually has two hammers. This note must be played twice without much time between them. And finally, let's take a look at the hit train. Once every hour, the hit train starts running. This has a single cable that goes directly up, goes through the cable room and then connects to the hammer on the Big Ben. It works in a very similar way to the bell train, but this time we are only making a bell sound. It must be programmed with precision so that the first hit happens exactly on time. This bell was initially cracked when it was first used in 1859. It is said that the hammer they used was too heavy, but instead of replacing the bell, they drilled holes in the upper and lower part of the crack to prevent it from spreading. Then they turned the bell 90 degrees and used a slightly smaller hammer. This same bell is still in use today. The small crack is what gives it the only sound you hear. Up here you will see the two flying fans. They work in a similar way to the three-legged fly fan we saw earlier. They act like air brakes to control the speed at which the bells ring. Now, as the clock advances, the central weight will be lower and lower. Then, as the bells ring, the external weights will be lower and lower. Three times a week you have to give the clock a rope. All this was initially done by hand, but today we have an electric motor. This gives rope to the two outer weights, which are the heaviest. But the central weight of the moving train is still given rope by hand. Once the weights are given rope, the clock returns to working completely by gravity. No electricity is needed to keep the hands of the clock in motion. The movement of the clock is very reliable to keep the time, but occasionally it will deviate. Changes in temperature or climate can make the pendulum of the clock oscillate too fast or too slowly. To speed it up a bit, they will add one or more coins of a pendulum at the top of the pendulum. To slow it down, they will remove them. Each coin affects the speed of the clock by two-fifths of a second in a period of 24 hours. In 2017, important renovations began at the Elizabeth Tower. They built scaffolding all over the tower to have better access. They are repairing and replacing the stone and metalwork to ensure the future of the tower. They are also restoring the original colors. The sphere of the clock will be made of an intense blue again. The renovation work of the tower will be completed in the summer of 2022. 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I'm Jared. I create 3D animations to show and explain how things work. Watch another animation by clicking on one of these cards or click here to subscribe. Thanks for watching this video. See you!