Accession No
1358
Brief Description
Model of the suspended coil of an electrodynamometer; Cavendish Laboratory; 1885
Origin
Maker
Class
electrical; demonstration
Earliest Date
1885
Latest Date
1885
Inscription Date
Material
wood; metal(brass); plastic (ebonite)
Dimensions
height 92mm; diameter 130mm
Special Collection
Cavendish collection
Provenance
Transferred from the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge. Made in the Cavendish Laboratory in 1885.
Inscription
On two coil formers, respectively: “A / B”
On coil former (added) : “E. 322”
Description Notes
Helmoltz coil pair wound on wooden disks, separated by three brass rods and central brass tube; ebonite terminal plate with brass terminals.
References
Events
Description
An electrodynamometer is an instrument used for measuring the electric power. The basic principle of this instrument was laid out in ‘Elektrodynamische Massbestimmungen uber ein allgemeines Grundgesetz der elektrischen Wirkung’ (1846), a paper by German physicist Wilhelm Weber (1804–1891). He stated that when the same current passes through two concentric coils placed at right angles to each other, the resulting torque depended on the square of the current. This model was made in the Cavendish Laboratory in 1885 by H. Stroud, who became Professor of Physics at University College London shortly after graduating from University of Cambridge. Stroud’s most notable contribution to physics was his collaborative work with Lord Armstrong regarding positively and negatively charged particles. Their research was published as: Supplement to electric movement in air and water with theoretical inferences (1899).
17/03/2014
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 17/03/2014
FM:41083
Images (Click to view full size):
