A glass bulb mounted horizontally on a roughly-constructed u-shaped wooden stand and held in place by thin copper wires. The bulb is cylindrical at one end and widens to a spherical bulbous end at the other, with two tubes coming off horizontally and at a diagonal angle downwards towards the stand. A fourth narrow tube with an uneven, closed end is connected with the cylindrical section an points down and outwards, away from the stand. Within the bulb, disc-shaped electrodes, one of which is flat, the other concave, project horizontally from the tubes at either end, with a short projection at the bulbous end containing an additional disc-shaped electrode pointing diagonally up from the diagonal tube. The glass is faintly purple in the bulb, but clear elsewhere.
Accession Number: 2009.ph.31
Alternative Name: Vacuum Tube
Primary Materials: Metal: Copper Alloy, Wood, Glass
Old inventory number = phy61. Labelled on the glass projection is a partly illegible label, reading “Richard Muller-…, 30”.
Height = 30, Width = 7.5, Length = 28; Bulb Diameter = 15
The production of X-Rays for their investigation or use in experiments.
Good: The wooden stand contains a split in one of the upright supports but is otherwise in good condition with few nicks and cuts. The tube is in very good condition with no loose parts, cracks or marks. The glass has a faintly purplish hue from use.
Associated Instruments:
Manufacturer: Richard Muller-Uri (Braunschwieg)
Date of Manufacture: c. 1910
Department of Physics, University of Toronto
Additional Information and References:
This X-Ray tube was made for classroom demonstrations around 1910 by Richard Müller-Uri, whose company had quickly entered the rapidly growing discharge and x-ray tube market at the beginning of the 20th century. This glass of this example is has a distinctly purplish tint, indicating that it has been well used.