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.); 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.); 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.); 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.); 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.); 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...
