galvanometer shunt
Date1893-1912
Inventory Number0299a,b
ClassificationGalvanometer Shunt
Subject
Maker
Queen & Company
1893 - 1912
User
Harvard Engineering School
1918 - 1951
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Place of Use
Dimensions14.2 × 9.6 × 9.6 cm (5 9/16 × 3 3/4 × 3 3/4 in.)
Material
DescriptionFrom Card:
Resistances for 1/9, 1/99, 1/999. Plug contacts in concentric circles mounted on circular hard rubber cover. Cylindrical brass case.
Resistances for 1/9, 1/99, 1/999. Plug contacts in concentric circles mounted on circular hard rubber cover. Cylindrical brass case.
Signedon top: Queen & Co. / Makers / Phila
Inscribedbottom stamped: 258 (possibly manufacturer's number); old number: H.U. 136-A
FunctionGalvanometer shunts are used to increase the range of a galvanometer.
If too much current flows through a Galvanometer, the needle will reach the end of the scale, and the inner circuits may be burned. To prevent this and to extend the range of a galvanometer, one uses a shunt, which provide an alternative path for most of the current to flow through. Depending on the selected setting on the shunt, one then needs to multiply the readings of the galvanometer by a factor.
If too much current flows through a Galvanometer, the needle will reach the end of the scale, and the inner circuits may be burned. To prevent this and to extend the range of a galvanometer, one uses a shunt, which provide an alternative path for most of the current to flow through. Depending on the selected setting on the shunt, one then needs to multiply the readings of the galvanometer by a factor.
ProvenanceFrom the Engineering School (Harvard University) November 1956.
Electric Manufacturing Company
Date: late 19th-early 20th Century
Object number: 0372
Date: 1890-1930
Object number: RS0505
American
Date: 1900-1930
Accessories: moving magnet
Object number: 0370
Siemens & Halske AG
Date: circa 1910
Accessories: these shunts, as well as 0560b and 0560c came with Siemens and Halske meter 0560a
Object number: 0560d-h
General Radio Company
Date: late 19th-early 20th Century
Object number: RS0175