A small domed enclosure on a black base contains a fine glass mechanism. Within the enclosure, on the top surface of the base, is a silver manufacturer’s label. The mechanism is slightly damaged; a small loose piece of the mechanism can be seen within the envelope.
Beneath the base is a layer of foam cushion.
Accession Number: 2022.ph.870
Alternative Name: Unstable or Astatic Gravimeter
Primary Materials: Quartz Glass
The silver label reads as follows in black lettering: “W. SODIN (GRAVITY) LTD.// TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA// Phone (416) 225-4513 Cable Sodinst”
Dimensions (cm): Max diameter = 9, Height = 9.5cm.
A gravimeter measures the force of gravity at a given location. This artifact displays the quartz mechanism used in the Sodin version of an astatic Worden-type gravimeter.
This artifact is largely intact, but has suffered minor damage. A small part of the glass mechanism has become detached and is loose within the enclosure. The foam cushion on the base is beginning to disintegrate.
Associated Instruments:
Wolf Sodin of Sodin Gravity, Toronto, On.
Date of Manufacture:
This artifact was obtained by the University of Toronto Department of Physics undergraduate teaching laboratory, which operates several Sodin Gravimeters that are used in student exercises.
It was borrowed in by the artifact collection 2018 and displayed in the “Vitreous World” exhibit on the third floor of Victoria College. It was returned to the teaching laboratory in January of 2023.
This item belongs to the teaching laboratory and is not part of the artifact collection. It is catalogued here for information purposes.
The following paper includes a diagram of the Sodin gravimeter:
Baurov, Yu. A, and A. V Kopajev. “Experimental Investigations of Signals of a New Nature with the Aid of Two High Precision Stationary Quartz Gravimeters,” 2001.
The Worden gravimeter was patented in the United States in the mid 1950s. In the 1960s, E.J. Sharpe Instruments of Canada Ltd. (later Scintrex Ltd) began producing Worden-type gravimeters. Wolf Sodin, a scientific glassblower who build the mechanism for the Scintrex instruments, later started his own company.