Weber (needle) type galvanometer
date: label: date made
content: ca 1850
name: label: associated person
content: Gauss, Carl Friedrich
label: maker
content: Ruhmkorff, Heinrich Daniel
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: A brass base with three adjustable feet, two glass windows, six binding posts for electrical contacts. A glass tube containing a string is set on top. The sting suspends a needle between two electromagnet coils, and is attached to an adjustable scale. Made by Ruhmkorff of Paris around 1850, and restored in 1957. Treatment included: complete disassembly and cleaning; four bent knobs straightened; one window replaced; graduated azimuth circle and index face re-silvered.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Wilhelm Weber (1804-1891), a German physicist, introduced a new tangent galvanometer in 1839. Joseph Henry, the physicist who served as founding Secretary of the Smithsonian, bought this example for use at the Institution. The "Ruhmkorff a / Paris" inscription is that of Heinrich Daniel Ruhmkorff (1803-1877), a German instrument maker in Paris.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In 1858, the Smithsonian paid H. Bossange, its agent in Paris, for three instruments; all with shipping, handling, and commission extra: "Galvanometre de Weber avec lunette" for 500 Fr.; "Electrodinamometer de Weber" for $300 Fr., plus "faiscean aimante" for 60 Fr.; "Grand galvanometer pour demonstration" for 200 Fr.
label: Description (Brief)
content: References: C. E. Gauss and Wilhelm Weber, <i>Resultate der Beobachtungen des magnetischen Vereins im Jahre 1838</i> (Leipzig, 1839); P. A. Daguin, <i>Traite Elementaire de Physique</i>, 3 (Toulouse and Paris, 1861), pages 531-532; Paolo Brenni, <i>GIi strumenti di fisica delI'Istituto Tecnico Toscano. Elettricita e Magnetismo</i> (Firenze, 2000), item 215, pages. 126-127.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: Exhibition
content: Lighting a Revolution
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.315113
label: catalog number
content: 315113
label: accession number
content: 1977.0224
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Galvanometer
label: Other Terms
content: Galvanometer; Measuring Devices
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 34 in x 12 1/2 in x 10 1/2 in; 86.36 cm x 31.75 cm x 26.67 cm