This device is for measuring differences in temperature and was named for British natural philosopher John Leslie. It is considerably more sensitive than a standard thermometer. Physical Description: Wooden pedestal base, ivory-colored face,...
The Kinnersley's Thermometer was an apparatus designed to demonstrate the heating power of an electric spark by showing the expansion of air when an electric spark is passed through it. Physical Description: Glass tube with brass base and top,...
Thermodynamics--Experiments; Scientific apparatus and instruments
The brass ball will just pass through a brass ring when cold, but when the ball is heated in boiling water it expands so that it no longer passes through the ring. The ball and ring demonstration of heat expansion has been in use since the early...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Steam engines
The Eolypile (or aeolipile) is a metal sphere attached to a chariot half-filled with water and nested up to allow steam to build up. The steam is then allowed to escape in a jet making the chariot move. Physical Description: Brass 'cart' with three...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Simple machines; Archimedean screw
A simple mechanical device credited to Archimedes. When the lower end of the screw is placed in water, turning the device raises water to the top. This principle has various applications for drainage and irrigation, but the instrument can also be...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Thermodynamics--Experiments;
The brass ball will just pass through a brass ring when cold, but when the ball is heated in boiling water it expands so that it no longer passes through the ring. The ball and ring demonstration of heat expansion has been in use since the early...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Simple machines; Archimedean screw
A simple mechanical device credited to Archimedes. When the lower end of the screw is placed in water, turning the device raises water to the top. This principle has various applications for drainage and irrigation, but the instrument can also be...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Piezometer
The Oersted Piezometer was used to determine the coefficient of the compressibility of liquids. Gases would have been pumped into the chamber through the funnel at the top. The pressure of the gases would have been measured via the water barometer...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Optical instruments
This device was used with a prism to demonstrate the seven colors of the specturm present in a beam of sunlight: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Induction coil
The Ruhmkorff induction coil consists of two separate coils of wire one inside the other wound around a cylinder with a central core of soft iron rods. When a current is passed through the first primary coil, current is induced in the secondary...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Galvanometer
A galvanometer is an instrument used to measure the presence, direction, and strength of small electric currents in a conductor. A magnetic needle is deflected by the presence of an electric current in a nearby conductor. The needle turns at right...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Electric discharges; X-ray tubes;
This instrument appears to be an early type of vacuum discharge tube or x-ray tube. The glass tube contains metal electrodes that have been sealed and from which the air has been removed by a vacuum system.
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Electric discharges;
When connected to a power source, a bright electric spark would flash between the two ends of the two outer posts. The middle glass post is made of photo gray glass (yellow tinted glass), which would have glowed. This instrument is visible in early...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Electric batteries
Grenet Batteries were single-element battery sources with flasks varying in size, from 1/3 liter to 3 liters. These batteries, when filled with an acid solution and placed in series, were a common source of electrical current prior to the...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Camera lucida;
An artist's aid for drawing, the camera Lucida was a portable device that was used to reproduce visual images on to paper. An adjustable prism mounted on the end of a supporting arm reflects the surrounding light and produces the image onto the...
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.); Anamorphosis (visual perception)--Instruments
Described as one of many ""Fine Optical Toys"" in James W. Queen's Catalogue of Microscopes, Accessories and Sundries, 1890, the anamorphoscope mirror rectifies distorted drawings.
Scientific apparatus and instruments; Santa Clara University (Calif.)
This instrument allowed water to be heated to a temperature higher than boiling point at atmospheric pressure, resulting in considerably high pressure inside. Papin designed a model of a digester in 1680 that allowed a piston inside a cylinder to...
