Energy & Power

• 

  Thomson DC Generator

  Description

  This model of a direct-current generator was designed by Elihu Thomson to produce a constant voltage. It could also be used as a motor that would maintain a constant speed. It came to the Smithsonian from the U. S. Patent Office, representing patent number 333,573, issued to Thomson on January 5, 1886. The patent itself indicates that no model was submitted (which is not surprising since by that time models were not required), and this example was probably given to the Patent Office at a slightly later date for display purposes.

  Thomson and Edwin Houston were school teachers in Philadelphia in the 1870s when they formed a partnership (the Thomson-Houston Company) to enter the new and competitive arc-lighting field. They produced a number of successful generators, motors, meters, and lighting devices. Most of their system employed alternating current, which was as good as direct current for lighting. With the development of the transformer in the mid-1880s, AC systems assumed added importance because electricity generated at a low voltage could now be converted to high voltage for more efficient transmission and then converted back to safer low voltage for use by consumers. But electro-chemical applications (like plating) required DC generators, and, until the invention of a practical AC motor by Nikola Tesla at the end of the 1880s, street railways depended on DC.

  Thomson-Houston merged with Edison's company in 1892 to form General Electric.

  See US Patent # 333573, Dynamo Electric Machine, issued 5 January 1886, to Elihu Thomson. Claim: "A design with spherical armature and round-type frame to obtain a dynamo-electric machine capable of furnishing a constant potential; or an electric motor capable of maintaining a constant speed." No extant maker's markings. This machine has a revolving circular armature with pulley wheel on one end of shaft and adjustable brushes at the other. Field magnets are supported inside the frame.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  Date made

  1886

  patent date

  1886-01-05

  associated person

  Thomson, Elihu

  associated company

  Thomson-Houston Electric Company

  maker

  Thomson, Elihu

  ID Number

  EM.252663

  catalog number

  252663

  patent number

  333573

  accession number

  49064

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Modular fluorescent lamp

  Description

  In the wake of soaring energy prices in the 1970s, several manufacturers quickly introduced new lamp designs to meet a demand for efficient lighting devices. General Electric mounted a circular fluorescent tube on an adapter that housed a starter and ballast, and that could screw into an ordinary fixture. Called the Circlite, this hybrid product was introduced to the public in 1976.

  Since circular fluorescent tubes were already a mature product (originally developed in 1943), GE could take advantage of existing research data and production lines for the Circlite. Also, retailers and consumers were familiar with circular lamps, which eased resistance to the introduction of the new unit. The modular design allowed users to replace the tube when it failed, without having to replace the more expensive ballast package. Ultimately, GE and other manufacturers produced several versions of the lamp and refined the product. A light-weight electronic ballast replaced the heavier, less-efficient magnetic ballast used in this 1978 model, for example. As of today Circlites remain in production.

  Lamp characteristics: A modular fluorescent lamp with three components: ballast, mounting frame, and lamp. Ballast: aluminum medium-screw base with brass contact and a glass insulator. A plastic skirt houses a magnetic ballast and a receptacle for a circular fluorescent lamp frame. Mounting frame: a three-arm plastic frame (made in two halves) with a sliding switch to release the ballast. The ballast mounts at center of mounting frame. Lamp: circular fluorescent tube with soft white colored phosphor.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca. 1978

  Date made

  ca 1978

  manufacturer

  General Electric

  ID Number

  1997.0388.25

  accession number

  1997.0388

  catalog number

  1997.0388.25

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Experimental Short Arc Lamp

  Description (Brief)

  Original mini-arc lamp with argon and iodine. The quartz envelope uses uranium glass for graded seals.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1960

  maker

  Fridrich, Elmer G.

  ID Number

  1996.0147.28

  accession number

  1996.0147

  catalog number

  1996.0147.28

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Maser Focusing Assembly

  Description

  This object, the focusing assembly from the second maser, was made at Columbia University in 1954 by a team led by physicist Charles H. Townes. Maser stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Masers operate on the same principals as lasers, but they amplify microwaves instead of light. In fact, masers came first. Microwaves have lower energy levels than light and so were easier to produce, although the maser was not a simple invention.

  After working on microwave radar and other devices during the Second World War, Townes undertook investigations of microwave spectroscopy at Columbia University. Working with James Gordon and Herbert Zeigler, he successfully demonstrated an ammonia-beam maser in April 1954. The unit was quite large so Townes developed a smaller unit later that year, several pieces of which were donated to the Smithsonian in 1965.

  date made

  1954

  associated date

  1953

  maker

  Townes, Charles H.

  ID Number

  EM.323893

  catalog number

  323893

  accession number

  260038

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Assay Flask

  Description

  The term "assay" implies an analysis for only a certain constituent (or constituents) of a mixture. A good example is the assay of an ore for gold. That sort of assay would be done using a dry method, i.e. heating the ore in a crucible.

  An assay can also be performed using a wet method. A good example is the extraction of an alkaloid from dried plant material. The plant sample is placed in a vessel into which a solvent is introduced. The active constituent is separated from the sample and extracted by chemical means.

  The flask featured here, with its sloping sides and narrow mouth, is used for the wet assay method. The sample and solvent would be combined in this vessel. Additional apparatus would be used for the separation and extraction of the active constituent.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  ID Number

  1985.0311.064

  catalog number

  1985.0311.064

  accession number

  1985.0311

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Home-made Laser

  Description

  The term “home-made laser” almost seems a contradiction but that is not the case. This gas laser was built by high school student Stephen M. Fry in 1964, only four years after Ali Javan made the first gas laser at Bell Labs. Fry followed plans published in Scientific American's "The Amateur Scientist" column in September 1964, (page 227).

  The glass tube is filled with helium and neon and, as the magazine reported, "seems to consist merely of a gas-discharge tube that looks much like the letter 'I' in a neon sign; at the ends of the tube are flat windows that face a pair of small mirrors. Yet when power is applied, the device emits as many as six separate beams of intense light."

  The discharge tube is the only piece of this particular laser that remains. The flat windows (called "Brewster windows") are square instead of round, and the electrodes are parallel to the gas tube instead of perpendicular. Otherwise it resembles the drawings in the magazine. Fry later earned a Ph.D. in physics with a dissertation on lasers.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  Date made

  1964

  date ordered, given, or borrowed

  1985-03-15

  maker

  Fry, Stephen M.

  ID Number

  1985.0269.01

  accession number

  1985.0269

  catalog number

  1985.0269.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Laser Level Detector

  Description

  This Spectra-Physics model 1077 "Level-Eye" laser light detector was made in the early 1980s. After setting-up a laser-emitter a construction worker could use this detector to take readings and check for level on a job site. The unit has both a visual display and an audible tone to tell the worker when the detector is centered on the signal. It has two accuracy settings, plus or minus 1/8 of an inch or 1/16 of an inch.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1984

  maker

  Spectra-Physics Scanning Systems, Inc.

  ID Number

  1985.0417.02

  accession number

  1985.0417

  catalog number

  1985.0417.02

  model number

  1077

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Experimental Laser Crystal

  Description

  A major breakthrough marks only the beginning of a scientist's work. In November 1960 Peter Sorokin and Mirek Stevenson, at IBM's Watson Research Center, successfully demonstrated a second type of laser. They energized a crystal of calcium-fluorine treated with a variety of uranium (written in chemical symbols as CaF2:U3+) to generate a pulse of laser light.

  Sorokin and other colleagues experimented with many elements as they learned more about both pulsed and continuous-wave lasers. This crystal, from mid-1962, was the first one made of strontium, fluorine and samarium (SrF2:Sm2+) to successfully operate. Laser research was a very competitive field. Despite their efforts at IBM, Sorokin told museum staff that a team from Bell Labs, "made the first CW [continuous wave] solid-state laser using an ordinary crystal of CaF2:U3+. After that achievement we abandoned our CW efforts and went on to other topics." Those other topics included significant early work on generating laser beams using liquid dyes.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1962

  ID Number

  1985.0268.06

  catalog number

  1985.0268.06

  accession number

  1985.0268

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Propeller Indiana’s Steam Whistle

  Description

  The ship’s steam whistle was powered by a steam line from the boiler. It was used to signal other ships or the shore, to let them know of its presence or its intentions. It was especially useful when approaching or leaving port, or in foggy or dark waters.

  Date made

  1848

  ID Number

  1982.0241.01

  accession number

  1982.0241

  catalog number

  82.0241.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  pump

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1930

  ID Number

  1977.0935.01D

  catalog number

  1977.0935.01D

  accession number

  1977.0935

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Carbide (Acetylene) Gas Toaster

  Description

  Five-jet single burner on four splayed tab feet with a circular, four-arm, fixed grate and white ceramic-handled stopcock or shut-off valve; for use with Colt carbide-feed acetylene gas generator. Separate four-sided toaster; consists of a tiered top piece, pyramidal body with four columns of horizontal pierced slots on each side and rounded-corner square base, all held together with bent wire racks with projections for holding bread. No maker's marks on either piece.

  America Lava Corporation of Chattanooga, TN (1902-1981) produced ceramic insulators for acetylene burners and, later, electrical equipment. Dates of operation for the Acetylene Stove Manufacturing Company not known.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1930

  ID Number

  1977.0935.13

  catalog number

  1977.0935.13

  accession number

  1977.0935

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Wood from Propeller Indiana

  Description

  The abundance of timber along the shores of the Great Lakes gave steamboats a ready supply of fuel. Partly burned logs from Indiana’s boiler grate indicate that the boiler had been stoked just before the steamboat sank.

  Pound for pound, coal provides more energy than wood. Coal was found in the vicinity of the boiler in the hold, and historical sources indicate that it was a common fuel on upbound (northerly) voyages, while wood was the principal downbound fuel.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  ID Number

  1979.1030.64.01

  catalog number

  1979.1030.64

  accession number

  1979.1030

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Argonne superconducting solenoid

  Description

  This object consists of a set of two or three nested solenoids housed within stainless steel cylindrical frames The solenoids are wound from niobium-zirconium (25%) copper coated cable. The frames have holes and slots for circulation of liquid helium within. The solenoid was designed to be used as a high-field magnet for the Argonne 10-inch liquid helium bubble chamber.

  Disjoint part 1978.0469.01.2 is a retaining ring (or flange) with notches and bolt holes that was originally mounted with 2 studs inside the outer rim of one face of the cylindrical housing of the solenoid magnet (disjoint part 1978.0469.01.1). Originally, three curved strips, each covering one third of the ring circle, were attached over the ring. These strips, the screws, that presumably held them, and the two studs are not now with the ring. The three arc strips comprise disjoint part 1978.0469.01.3.

  When acquired, the Argonne superconducting solenoid consisted of its 3 disjoint parts joined together as the original single object in the acquisition. For display in the "Atom Smashers" exhibit at the National Museum of American History, the ring .01.2 and its 3 associated strips .01.3 were removed to expose the coils of the solenoid assembly .01.1.

  In addition, three among the set of nine spacers (irregularly shaped, thin, flat non-metallic pieces) that were mounted with an adhesive on the annular face of the solenoid frame have become separated. The three separated spacers (not numbered) have been retained in storage with the disjoint parts.

  Basic Principles and History

  A magnetic field is an essential feature in a bubble chamber in order to distinguish the sign of charged particles and to measure their momenta from the curvature of their bubble tracks. Charged particles moving through a magnet field are deflected in a circular path in a direction that is perpendicular to both the magnetic field lines and their direction of motion. In a chamber of a given size, higher momentum particles require correspondingly stronger magnetic fields in order to produce particle tracks of sufficiently small radius of curvature for measurement purposes.

  To analyze the tracks from high-energy collisions, it is necessary to maintain the entire chamber in a strong uniform magnetic field (in excess of 20 kilogauss). Conventional (copper-coil) electromagnets that carry the high currents necessary to produce these magnetic fields can be prohibitively massive and can have attendant high cooling requirements. The discovery of superconductivity over a century ago raised the prospect of producing extremely intense electric currents – and thereby, the ability to generate correspondingly high magnetic fields using coils carrying those currents. Niobium was used in the various superconducting materials from which these coils were fabricated. Such niobium-based alloys must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures with liquid helium to become superconductive. In 1955 coils made with drawn niobium wire produced 5.3 kilogauss at a temperature of 1.2 degrees Kelvin. By the 1960’s, coils made of a compound of niobium and tin reached 40 kilogauss at 4 deg. K. The further development and application of these coils was subsequently carried out almost entirely at high-energy accelerator laboratories.

  In 1963, a group at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), together with physicists from Carnegie-Mellon University, began fabricating the first “large” superconducting solenoid magnet. Although built for use with a 10-inch diameter liquid helium bubble chamber, the Argonne superconducting solenoid was intended to test materials and fabrication techniques for building much larger superconducting magnets. The solenoid was originally composed of three concentric nested coils; in that form it produced 67 kilogauss. When used with the 10-inch bubble chamber, the innermost coil was removed. The coils are wound with several types of cable, with multiple strands in case any individual one should prove faulty. Holes and slots in the stainless steel casing, and stainless steel mesh between layers of winding, allow liquid helium to circulate through the magnet.

  Success with this first large solenoid led the ANL group to use superconducting coils to provide the magnetic field for a 12-foot diameter liquid hydrogen bubble chamber. Completed in 1969, they were larger by an order of magnitude than any previous superconducting coils. Thereafter, superconducting magnets were use in other bubble chambers of the same size around the world. Among other attributes, superconducting magnets had the benefit of reducing total consumption of electrical power by more than 97%.

  Date made

  1964

  designer

  Fields, T.H.

  manufacturer

  Argonne National Laboratory

  AVCO Corporation

  ID Number

  1978.0469.01.1

  accession number

  1978.0469

  catalog number

  1978.0469.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Alvarez proton linear accelerator

  Description

  Object 1978.1073.01.1 is the first seven feet of the 40-ft. long Alvarez proton linear accelerator (linac), with two of the total of 9 oscillators. The Alvarez linac became operational in 1947-48.

  The accelerator assembly .01.1 consists of the following major components: horizontal cylindrical vacuum tank enclosing a cylindrical copper cavity and central beam tube, (.01.1.01), connected externally to two vertical cylindrical oscillators (.01.1.02 and 01.1.09) and their associated power systems. The vacuum chamber is open at one end to show the internal cavity and linear array of drift tubes at the center. From its open end, five feet (approx.) of top half of the vacuum chamber has been cutaway to show the outer surface of the copper cavity. As displayed in Atom Smashers exhibition, a flange-type support attached under the vacuum tank is mounted on two pyramidal-shaped, vertical supports, which rest on a low platform surface. With the exception of oscillator .01.1.09, the other components numbered from .01.1.03 to .01.1.17 are minor (e.g., bolts, pipe, cables, electrical fittings, etc. - see curator's notes for details).

  History and basic principles

  The linear resonance accelerator, developed by E.O. Lawrence and colleagues during the 1930’s, was one of the earliest designs for attaining high particle energy without the requirement of correspondingly high voltage. Numerous attempts to realize it were made before World War II, but all proved disappointing, largely due to the limitations of technology for generating high-frequency electric fields.

  As the name implies, linear resonance accelerators are straight machines in which, as in circular cyclotrons, the accelerated motion of charged particles is synchronized with an oscillating electric field. They were first made practical by the radar technology developed during World War II. Pulsed radio transmitters of extremely high peak power at ultra-high frequency made it possible to think about adding a million volts to the energy of protons and electrons for each linear foot of the accelerator. The opportunity was recognized by many physicists developing radar in Britain and the U.S. The boldest in exploiting it was Luis W. Alvarez, one of the scientists in Lawrence’s cyclotron group at University of California, Berkeley. In the Alvarez accelerator, an intense 200 MHz electric field is produced within the copper cavity by powerful oscillators - - originally surplus radar transmitters - - for 400 microseconds, 15 times per second. Protons injected into the end of the cavity from a Van de Graaff (electrostatic) accelerator with an energy of 4 MeV are accelerated further by the oscillating electric field when crossing the gaps between the drift tubes, but are shielded by the tubes when the electric field is in the opposite, retarding, phase. Along the length of the cavity, the individual drift tubes (see object ID no. 1978.1073.01.4-.5) lengthen in proportion to the increasing particle velocity, so that the protons always take the same time to travel from gap to gap, thus remaining in step with the oscillating electric field. The proton bunches are longitudinally stable as in a synchrotron, and are stabilized transversely by the action of converging fields produced by focusing grids (see object ID no. 1978.1073.01.3.01-.03). In 1947, the linac’s 40-ft. long cavity accelerated protons to 31.5 MeV, which, until that time was the highest energy to which protons had ever been accelerated. (Berkeley’s synchrocyclotron leap-frogged the energy to 350 MeV the next year.)

  By 1947 the synchrotron emerged as the most practical concept for a high-energy particle accelerator, and the linac was subsequently used as the proton injector into the synchrotron. A smaller version of the Alvarez linac was used to inject 10 MeV protons into Berkeley’s “Bevatron”, a billion electron volt (BeV) synchrotron. Present injector linacs are hundreds of feet in length and produce particle beams of hundreds of MeV. For basic principles and history of synchrotrons, see McMillian synchrotron, Object ID no. N-09621.01 in the Modern Physics Collection.

  Principle of strong focusing

  Until 1952 designers of circular accelerators - - cyclotrons, betatrons, synchrotrons - - relied on the relatively “weak” focusing action of the magnetic field guiding ion or electron beams to hold these charged particles in stable circular orbits during acceleration. In 1952 the principle of alternating, or “strong”, focusing of particle beams was discovered at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and immediately found wide application in all types of accelerators.

  Focusing forces on a particle deviating vertically are stronger the more the lines of magnetic force bulged outward, and focusing forces on a particle deviating from the orbit circle are much stronger if the magnet gap narrowed, so that the lines of magnetic force bulged inward. These two conditions, incompatible simultaneously, do not completely cancel their effects if applied successively. Thus, a sequence of magnets whose radial field gradients are directed alternatively outward and inward can have a powerful net focusing action on the particles passing through them. This approach is known as alternating-gradient focusing. The same principle applies to the action of electric fields on charged particles. After learning of the possibility and value of applying alternating-gradient focusing to proton linear accelerators, Alvarez’s group demonstrated strong radial focusing of the proton beam with electrostatic quadrupole lenses. In autumn of 1952, they immediately removed the original focusing grids and installed one such electrostatic quadrupole lens inside each drift tube (see object ID no. 1978.1073.01.5.2). The intensity of the proton beam doubled, and would have quadrupled had the insulation of the electrical leads held the required voltage. Thus the first proton linac was also the first strong-focusing accelerator. (The first accelerator to use magnetic alternating-gradient focusing was the 1 GeV synchrotron at Cornell University in 1953.) Before the prototype 32-MeV linac was shipped from Berkeley to its final location for operations at the University of Southern California, all of its drift tubes had been fitted with electrostatic strong-focusing electrodes.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1945-48

  ID Number

  1978.1073.01.1

  catalog number

  1978.1073.01.1

  accession number

  1978.1073

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  funnel

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1930

  ID Number

  1977.0935.01E

  catalog number

  1977.0935.01E

  accession number

  1977.0935

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  connector

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1930

  ID Number

  1977.0935.01F

  catalog number

  1977.0935.01F

  accession number

  1977.0935

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Lewis Latimer Patent Drawing

  Description

  Electricity pioneer Lewis Latimer drew this component of an arc lamp, an early type of electric light, for the U.S. Electric Lighting Company in 1880.

  The son of escaped slaves and a Civil War veteran at age sixteen, Latimer trained himself as a draftsman. His technical and artistic skills earned him jobs with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, among others. An inventor in his own right, Latimer received numerous patents and was a renowned industry expert on incandescent lighting.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  Date made

  1880-07-25

  maker

  Latimer, Lewis H.

  ID Number

  1983.0458.21

  accession number

  1983.0458

  catalog number

  1983.0458.21

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Atomic Energy Commission Uranium Enrichment Chart

  Description

  This small metal rectangle has nomographic charts engraved on both sides that relate to the process of enriching uranium for use in an atomic reactor. The chart on one side is labeled: NORMAL URANIUM FEED REQUIREMENT. It allows one to find the normal uranium feed required (assuming an assay of uranium that is .711% weight U-235) per kilogram of enriched uranium product, assuming different concentrations of uranium in the tails assay. This side of the chart also has the logo of the Atomic Energy Commission of the United States of America.

  The chart on the other side is labeled: SEPARATIVE WORK REQUIREMENT. It allows one to find the amount of separative work required per kilogram of enriched uranium product, given the percentage by weight of uranium in the product and the tails.

  A card with the object describes its use. This card and the object fit into a white plastic case.

  On the mathematics of nomographic charts, see Lipka.

  Reference:

  Joseph Lipka, Graphical and Mechanical Computation. Part I. Alignment Charts New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1921, pp. 65–67.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1960

  maker

  U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

  ID Number

  1985.0636.01

  accession number

  1985.0636

  catalog number

  1985.0636.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Faber Steam Engine, 1827

  Description (Brief)

  The F. & W. M. Faber stationary steam engine was built in Pittsburgh during the 1850’s. Stationary steam engines such as this one could be used to power multiple machines in a shop or factory.

  Description

  The F. & W. M. Faber stationary steam engine is a rare survivor of pre-1860 American steam power. With a horizontal cylinder and separate bases for the flywheel and engine, the Faber displays features from the dawn of steam usage inside American factories.

  Although exceedingly rare today, this engine was offered as an "off-the-shelf" stock engine in 1850s Pittsburgh, where it was built. The engine features exceptional refinement in the degree of ornamentation on the flywheel and the flyball governor, evoking the novelty and wonder of early steam power.

  The physical beauty of the Faber engine masks its relative energy inefficiency compared with engines of the period of more robust construction. In addition, records indicate this pretty engine performed the bulk of its actual service inside tanneries in Ohio and Kentucky, where the smells and wet hides and dank darkness would have belied the visions that inspired this engine's elegant design and fabrication.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  maker

  F. and W. M. Faber

  ID Number

  1980.0227.01

  catalog number

  1980.0227.01

  accession number

  1980.0227

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Propeller Indiana’s Capstan

  Description

  The capstan, most commonly found on the decks of early steamboats, was used as a vertical winch for raising or lowering anchors, hoisting sails and cargo, hauling heavy lines, or other jobs where individual manpower was not enough.

  It was operated manually, by putting timbers into the holes and using the resulting leverage to wind a line wrapped around the center of the device more easily. Sea chanties, or rhythmic songs, were often employed by ship crews to ensure that everyone hauled at the same time. Later in the 19th century, steam capstans and donkey engines replaced human muscle on the larger vessels.

  date made

  mid-1800s

  ID Number

  1984.0359.02

  accession number

  1984.0359

  catalog number

  1984.0359.02

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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