Electrometer: De Luc's, + brass disk — Teylers Museum

Electrometer: De Luc's, + brass disk

The electrometers shown here are made after a design of the Swiss geologist and physicist Jean-André de Luc. De Luc was an all-round and during his lifetime prominent scientist. He designed various electrometers to measure the magnitude of an electric charge or voltage. The thoroughness with which he describes these instruments and the great variation in details of the different versions mask in fact two essential problems of eighteenth century electrometry: what do we actually measure and how do we get a measuring unit? Only after 1830 there was more clarity based on concepts like voltage, resistance and field intensity.

One of the electrometers shown here (544) is provided with a condenser plate, a plate on which electric charge is ‘stored’. By placing the plate opposite of the not-varnished part of the glass plate, you could determine whether the electric charge was negative or positive.

The wooden box contains several conductors for discharging the electrometers after being used

Administration name

Fysisch Kabinet

Title

Electrometer: De Luc's, + brass disk

Translated title

Electrometer: De Luc's, + brass disk

Creator

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Object category

elektriciteit

Object number

FK 0544

Reproduction reference

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