Accession No

2747

Brief Description

wheel train for Maxwell’s pendulum governor, for rapid revolution by means of a pendulum, designed by James Clerk Maxwell, 1863 (c)

Origin

Maker

Class

physics

Earliest Date

1863

Latest Date

1863

Inscription Date

Material

wood (at least three types); metal (brass)

Dimensions

length 533mm; height 370mm; breadth 175mm

Special Collection

Cavendish collection

Provenance

Transferred from Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, date unknown. It is recorded in the Cavendish Laboratory's 1894 alphabetical catalogue of apparatus on p.81.

Inscription

Description Notes

Rectangular wooden base with three feet, one with levelling screw. Four brass pillars support a rectangular brass frame, on which the wheel train is mounted. Wheel train consists of five axles interconnected by toothed wheels, three carrying wooden pulley wheels at one end (it is possible that all would have had pulley wheels). Three inner axles carry one small wheel and one large one (large one of each axle is connected to the small wheel of the next) with the outer axles carrying single wheels (one large and one small).

The Cavendish Laboratory's 1894 alphabetical catalogue of apparatus describes the whole apparatus as "G198 consists of (1) a drum and differential motion (2) a train of wheelwork (3) the pendulum governor arrangement."

References

Events