Objekt 6
Musschenbroek's pyrometer (thermal expansion meter)
Description
The device was used to demonstrate the expansion of metal under heat. In this process, an iron rod is heated by six spirit flames and its expansion, or coefficient of expansion, is indicated by a pointer on a dial through a special transmission mechanism. The pyrometer of this type was invented in 1731 by the Dutchman Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692-1761).
Object description
Manufacturer: Jean Pierre Charme
Paris, around 1752
Iron, brass, wood
Inscription/Signature: Pyromètre nouveau / fait par M. / Jean Pierre Charme / à Paris
Purchase in 1752 by Prof. Daniel Bernoulli (No. 131 in the 1757 inventory)
Deposit Institute of Physics of the University of Basel, Phys. 46.
Inv. 1986.404.