The instrument has a circular base, with 2 metal rods inserted vertically. One rod has a cylinder block attached to it with a glass slit passing through the middle of the cylinder. The other rod is used as a support for the first rod; it supports the cylinder block and allows the height of the attached metal plate to be adjusted. The metal plate spans approximately 27cm across and has a wheel-based pulley system at each end.
Accession Number: 2009.ph.68
Alternative Name: Searle’s Viscometer
Primary Materials: Metal, glass
On the bar near the pulley wheel: “W. G. PYE & CO LTD
ENGLAND
CAMBRIDGE”
On the base: “W. G. PYE CAMBRIDGE”
On a oval-shaped paper sticker on the base: “67b”
On a rectangular paper sticker on the base: “PHY 862”. This refers to the object’s entry in the 1978 inventory.
Dimensions (cm): height = 32.5cm, length = 34cm
This is an instrument for measuring the viscosity of very thick liquids.
Condition:
Associated Instruments:
W.G. Pye & Co. Ltd., Cambridge, England
Date of Manufacture: c. 1914
This item was designed by G.F.C. Searle. Searle was a professor at the Cavendish Laboratory who designed a variety of instruments for teaching and demonstration. His designs were made for sale by Pye & Co. Ltd., Cambridge.
Its purchase is recorded by Satterly in a ledger that records purchases made for the undergraduate laboratory between 1912 and 1934. The ledger is now kept at the University of Toronto archives.
See also the Pye & Co. Ltd 1910 catalogue, kept in the UTSIC catalogue collection.
Additional Information and References:
Historical Notes:
Themes:
- Donated to UTSIC