Geometric Model, L. Brill No. 13. Ser. 4 No. 3, Moveable Hyperboloids of One Sheet (Ruled Surfaces)
Geometric Model, L. Brill No. 13. Ser. 4 No. 3, Moveable Hyperboloids of One Sheet (Ruled Surfaces)
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- Description
- From the early nineteenth century, mathematicians and engineers have studied surfaces generated by motion. In a complete form of this model, two sets of threads join the small circle (with its tangent line) at the top and the larger circle (with its tangent line) toward the bottom.
- One set of threads forms a cone and its tangent plane. The threads within it form a double cone. If the circle at the top or bottom is rotated, the tangent plane becomes a hyperbolic paraboloid and the double cone and outside cone become two different hyperboloids.
- Compare to model 1985.0112.009 (Brill’s Ser. 4, No. 2), in which the two metal circles are equal and the outer curve is a cylinder.
- This German model of a surface of second order is one of a series of five first introduced by Brill in 1879, rather early in the life of the company. This example was exhibited at the Columbian Exposition, the world's fair held in Chicago in 1893. It came to the Smithsonian from the mathematics department of Wesleyan University in Connecticut. It presently lacks weights and the strings are broken.
- Reference:
- Ludwig Brill, Catalog mathematischer Modelle..., Darmstadt: L. Brill, 1892, p. 9-10, 58-59.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- geometric model
- date made
- 1892
- maker
- L. Brill
- place made
- Germany: Hesse, Darmstadt
- Physical Description
- string (overall material)
- glass (overall material)
- metal (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 52.5 cm x 33.7 cm x 16 cm; 20 21/32 in x 13 9/32 in x 6 5/16 in
- ID Number
- 1985.0112.010
- catalog number
- 1985.0112.010
- accession number
- 1985.0112
- Credit Line
- Gift of Wesleyan University
- subject
- Mathematics
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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