Savart's Wheel Rare Scientific Instrument

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Antique Scientific Instrument , unusual version of Savert’s Wheel This rare collector’s piece is a version of the French Physicist Felix Savart (1791-1841) is probably best known for his 1820 investigation (with Biot) of the strength of a magnetic field as a function of the local geometry and the current through a wire. Most of his research dealt with acoustics, including Savart's wheel, which he used for research on the lower frequency limit of hearing. . Demonstrations with Savart's wheel ought to convince anyone of the source of sound. The wheel is set spinning, in this case by air from a blower connected via the input tube in front of the wheel and a playing card or a file card is held against the serrations on the rim of the wheel. At very slow rotation rates, the eye can see the edge of the card moving, but at higher rates it blurs, and a tone is produced. The frequency is directly proportional to the rotation rate. If some sort of counter were provided, Savart's wheel can be used, along with a stopwatch, to find the frequency of the sound. Thus, like the siren , it can be used for the absolute determination of pitch. In this fine example there is a scale etched on the lower wheel which can be brought on to the grub wheel on the axel connected to the wheel by a simple leaver device. This is a rare and unusual and an excellent read more

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