Images(2)

reflecting galvanometer

Datecirca 1946

Inventory Number1997-1-1181

ClassificationReflecting Galvanometer

Subject

Maker Rubicon Company fl. 1930s - 1960s

User Department of Chemistry, Harvard University founded 1791

Cultural Region

Place of Origin

Place of Use

Dimensions16.3 × 18.6 × 24.4 cm (6 7/16 × 7 5/16 × 9 5/8 in.)

Material

Accessorieslight bulb on electrical cord

DescriptionGalvanometer housed in a rectangular wooden cabinet with rectangular window showing frosted glass scale marked every millimeter and labeled every centimeter on the top and bottom. The top row is labeled from 5-0-5 cm and the bottom row is labeled from 0-10 cm. Vertically mounted bakelite rectangular panel with two celluloid terminals on right side of cabinet. Brass coarse zero adjuster slide scale mounted on top of cabinet. The left side of the cabinet has a 2-pronged plug for an optical source (attached). Four brass feet.

Signedon metal plaque mounted on front of cabinet: MADE BY / RUBICON CO. / PHILADELPHIA

Inscribedon paper label taped to top of cabinet (serial number): 36713 on metal plaque on top of cabinet: COARSE / ZERO ADJUSTER / SLIDE SCALE FOR / FINAL ADJUSTMENT on metal plaque above 2-pronged plug (badly rusted): 6 VOLTS, specifications listed on paper label taped to top of cabinet

Curatorial RemarksFrom card: "Used in Conant Rm. 124, possibly by Konrad Bloch's group for biochemistry."

FunctionA self-contained galvanometer with a movable coil wrapped around the frame of the galvanometer. The coil is suspended between the poles of a magnet, and when a current is applied, the coil twists in response to the interaction of the current through the coil and the magnetic field generated by the magnet. This galvanometer was used in conjunction with a 6-volt optical source to make voltage measurements in the classroom. The light beam reflects from the mirror on the galvanometer movement and this deflection can then be read from the scale on the exterior of the wooden cabinet.

ProvenanceFrom the Department of Chemistry, Harvard University.