Chladni Plates
Chladni Plates
Previous
Next
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- Ernst Chladni (1756-1827) was a German musician who studied the physics of sound. The Chladni Plate, one of his key inventions, was a flat piece of metal covered with a fine layer of sand; when a bow was drawn along one edge of the plate, the sand arranged itself in such a way that the nodal patterns became apparent.
- This example consists of two circular brass plates held in an iron clamp. The Smithsonian Institution bought it in the 1860s, probably from Rudolph Koenig Paris.
- Ref: Rudolph Koenig, Catalogue des Appareils d’Acoustique (Paris, 1865), pp. 25-26.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- sonorous figure plates
- maker
- Koenig, Rudolph
- place made
- France: Île-de-France, Paris
- Measurements
- overall: 4 3/4 in x 10 1/4 in x 7 3/4 in; 12.065 cm x 26.035 cm x 19.685 cm
- overall: 4 3/4 in x 10 1/2 in x 7 7/8 in; 12.065 cm x 26.67 cm x 20.0025 cm
- ID Number
- PH.314581.2
- catalog number
- 314581.2
- accession number
- 205890
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
