Small galvanometer for use with chronoscope, made by Hipp Small galvanometer for use with chronoscope, made by Hipp Small galvanometer for use with chronoscope, made by Hipp

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Small galvanometer for use with chronoscope, made by Hipp
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Small galvanometer for use with chronoscope, made by Hipp
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Small galvanometer for use with chronoscope, made by Hipp
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Small galvanometer for use with chronoscope, made by Hipp, Neuchâtel, 1888

Produced by Matthias Hipp of Neuchatel, Switzerland, this device was used to measure short intervals of time to within 1/1000th of a second. Its timekeeping element is not a pendulum but a metal reed which vibrates 1000 times per second above an escape wheel; one tooth of the escape wheel passes it every one-thousandth of a second. In use, the clockwork is kept in continuous motion and the indicating mechanism is started and stopped by electromagnets. Hipp's chronoscopes were originally used in military research experiments to measure the speed of projectiles, but achieved popularity with the advent of experimental psychology laboratories in the late 19th century, in which they were used to try to determine the speed of thought.

Details

Category:
Time Measurement
Object Number:
1889-38/2
Materials:
brass (alloy) and glass
type:
galvanometer
credit:
Mr. J. N. Hipp