文献1给出了富兰克林沸腾球在早期的一些发展历程：

Franklin’s Pulse or Palm Glass The pulse glass is attributed to Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), but he just introduced it as a “philosophical” instrument. Franklin writes in a letter to John Winthrop, professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard, dated July 2, 1768, that he first saw such an instrument, made by artisans, on his trip to Germany in 1767. His description includes all the elements of the instrument this paper studies: I met with a glass, being a tube about eight inches long, half an inch in diameter, with a hollow ball of near an inch diameter at one end, and one of near an inch and a half at the other, hermetically sealed, and half filled with water.

Franklin was particularly impressed, even puzzled by the function of this device therefore he acquired some. In his own words: If one end is held in the hand, and the other a little elevated above the level, a constant succession of large bubbles proceeds from the end in the hand to the other hand. (Fig. 14.3)

Franklin describes a number of experiments with the pulse glass, including some critical points related to later applications of this idea. He experimented with a version with bigger balls and a narrower tube that was bent in right angles. In that case “the water will be depressed in that (ball) which is held in the hand, and rise in the other as a jet or fountain”. This characteristic shape is the basic contribution of Franklin in what is now called the Franklin pulse glass and it was adopted later in the differential thermometers and thermoscopes.

He also observed that, if the surface of one ball becomes wet with alcohol, then the water will move towards this ball, because of the evaporation of the alcohol and the temperature reduction inside the ball. Moreover Franklin proposed that “the power of easily moving water from one end to the other of a moveable beam, suspended in the middle” could be used for mechanical applications. The dipping bird works based on these two observations.

It is worth noting that Wollaston gives an interesting detailed description of how a cryophorus–and consequently a pulse glass–can be made: Let a glass tube be taken, having its internal diameter about ½ of an inch, with a ball at each extremity of about one inch diameter; and let the tube be bent to a right angle at the distance of half an inch from each ball. One of these balls should contain a little water, and the remaining cavity should be as perfect a vacuum as can readily be obtained. The mode of effecting this is well known to those who are accustomed to blow glass. One of the balls is made to terminate in a capillary tube, and when water admitted into the other has been

boiled over a lamp for a considerable time, till all the air is expelled, the capillary extremity, through which the steam is still issuing with violence, is held in the flame of the lamp till the force of the vapour is so far reduced, that the heat of the flame has the power to seal it hermetically.

文献3指出：

圆球里所装的是有色的酒精。在仪器制造的时候，圆球里的酒精蒸汽已将所有的空气全部排出球外。在圆球里的液面上，只有酒精的饱和蒸汽。如果，用手握住沸腾球，并使连接两个球的管子在下面，那么，在被加热的圆球里的酒精蒸汽的压强将会增大，液体就会转移到另一个圆球里去，并且就在此球内出现了洒精的喷泉。在第二个圆球里的压强是不会增加的，这是因为当体积减小时，有一部分饱和蒸汽转变为液体了。由于圆球被握在手中加热，使它里面的蒸汽变成不饱和的，于是在这个圆球里酒精进一步地进行蒸发，新形成的蒸气的温度较酒精的温度高。沿着管子由液体内部冲出，这就造成了似同沸腾般的错觉。当二个小球内的蒸汽温度还没有相等的时候，这个现象是一直持续着的。在酒精“沸腾”了的那个球内，温度的升高，是由于冲出液体的蒸汽凝精的结果。

从慢镜头中可以看到

当80度左右的热水

刚刚接触到玻璃球顶端时

水平液柱并未移动

经过0.15秒后

热水包裹住了上半个球体

水平液柱才开始右移

冷端液柱向上喷射时

伴随着几个小水珠

液柱的喷射

明显分为两个阶段

开始时看起来像是层流

随后突然变为湍流

从画面中来看

发生该转变时

喷射到顶端

然后沿玻璃球内壁下流的液体

在喷射口附近发生明显聚集

随后

喷射液柱变的更粗了

由于热水从左侧倾倒

导致沸腾球向左侧倾斜

这点

可以从横向玻璃管内

液体的水平面看出

热水倾倒结束后

液体在横向玻璃管内逐渐积聚

最终在左侧阻塞了气道

导致第二次、第三次喷发

此时没有了倾倒热水的噪音

可以清晰的听到

喷发时伴随着明显的

清脆的敲击玻璃声

在右侧两侧交替倾倒热水时

偶尔观察到液柱断开

甚至是液体倒灌

既液体从浇灌热水的一边喷出

从红外热像仪中可以看到

右侧是升温非常缓慢

这间接说明了

液体的喷射

是玻璃球中气体升温导致的

而非液体升温

向玻璃球倾倒凉水

液体则向内涌进去

从热像仪中可以看到

右侧玻璃球的下方

首先出现了明显的降温

这可能是桌子上的冷水

在玻璃球上形成的虚像

通常情况下

手部温度高于室温

手握一侧玻璃球

液体会从另一侧玻璃球喷出

而上图中的现象正好相反

我在这里做了一点预处理

就是先用热水长时间冲洗沸腾球

使其表面温度高于室温

手在此时就变成了一个低温热源

文献3指出：

“饱和蒸汽压强与体积无关”：在U形管内盛水, 使达于管的一半，并用塞子把二个管口塞紧。斜置U形管时(圈4)，二个支管中的水面处于不同的高度。这是因为在支管B内, 水面上的空气（混合有未饱和水汽）的体积缩小时, 它的压强就增大。

如果用沸腾球来进行这个实验，由于在它里面的是饱和蒸汽, 那末在二个球的温度相等这条件下，其中的酒精面始终是处于同一个水平上( 圈)。当一个球的蒸汽体积增大时, 就有补充的汽化发生, 而当另一个球的蒸汽体积缩小时, 部分蒸汽就转变为液体。在这情况下，饱和蒸汽压保特不变。

为了重复文献1中描述的现象

我将沸腾球在夜里静置14小时

两个球中的液面没有等高

为了避免照明灯光的热效应

我将沸腾球长时间静置在柜子里

也没有得到期望的结果