A glass apparatus consisting of delicate branching elements is affixed to a rectangular white base by two metal multi-purpose clamps affixed to metal extension arms and oriented vertically. A glass-to metal-seal attaches one branch of the glass apparatus to a length of flexible metal hose. The opposite end of the hose is joined to a tapering glass tube that is closed at its narrow end.
This glass manifold was used as part of a larger apparatus (see image 6 and 7 below), but only this element was preserved and collected.
Accession Number: 2025.ph.899
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Quartz glass.
Note that the artifact has several faded markings, notable at the branches from which the small branches used to house the individual glaucoma samples. and along the perimeter of a broader element near the attachment of the metal hose.
Dimensions (cm): Height = 67, Width = 40, Length = 68
This apparatus was developed in Professor Derek York’s potassium-argon laboratory at the Department of Physics. It was used to test samples of glaucony minerals, which were difficult to process using the ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar method in which a sample is irradiated in order to transform potassium into various isotopes including argon-39.
Due to glaucony’s extremely fine microstructure, a portion of the argon in the sample escapes when a sample is irradiated. This process, known as “recoil”, leads to inconsistent results that are anomalously old when compared to results using the older K-Ar method.
This manifold was an attempt to resolve this problem by encapsulating glaucony samples in small (~3mm diameter) quartz capsules that retained the argon-39 gas released during neutron bombardment. While this method proved feasible, it was technically challenging to the point of being impractical.
The manifold appears intact. However, it is one component of a larger apparatus used to isolate glaucony samples and encase them in quartz capsules. This piece was separated, remounted, and the remainder discarded. In the process several elements were severed and were remounted to a plywood base. This was done for several reasons: The entire apparatus was impractical for long-term storage as it could not easily be placed on a shelf. The glass manifold itself was useful in representing both the skills of scientific glassblowers and researchers. The original platform for the manifold used asbestos bricks as heat shielding. (these are benign as long as they aren’t damaged.)
Associated Instruments:
Local scientific glassblower, possibly from the University of Toronto Department of Chemistry.
Date of Manufacture: Early 1990s.
The glaucony apparatus was acquired from Professor Derek York’s decommissioned laboratory, and the manifold remounted by Erich Weidenhammer, in February or March of 2016.
Patrick E. Smith, Norman M. Evensen and Derek York (1993). “Historical Notes:
- Donated to UTSIC