Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404 — John Shaqi
Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404Various
Science
Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404
Various
Science -- Periodicals
Every vibration of the meter corresponds to a definite
quantity of electricity, and causes a hand on a dial to move on one
step. By looking at the dial, we can see how many vibrations there
have been and therefore how much electricity has passed. Just as the
vibrating sticks in the model in time to come rest, so the vibrating
part of the meter would in time do the same, if it were not kept
going by an impulse automatically given to it when required. Also,
just as the vibrating sticks can be timed to one another by sliding
weights along them, so the vibrating electric meters can be regulated
to one another so that all shall indicate the same value for the same
current, by changing the position or weight of the bobs attached to the
vibrating arm. The other meter of this class, Dr. Hopkinson's, depends
on the fact that centrifugal force is proportional to the square of the
angular velocity. He therefore allows a little motor to drive a shaft
faster and faster, until centrifugal force overcomes electro-magnetic
attraction, when the action of the motor ceases. The number of turns of
the motor is a measure of the quantity of electricity that has passed.
[Illustration: Fig. 5.]
I will now pass on to the measurement of power transmitted by belting.
The transmission of power by a strap is familiar to every one in a
treadle sewing machine or an ordinary lathe. The driving force depends
on the difference in the tightness of the two sides of the belt, and
the power transmitted is equal to this difference multiplied by the
speed; a power meter must, therefore, solve this problem--it must
subtract the tightness of one side from the tightness of the other
side, multiply the difference by the speed at every instant, and add
all the products together, continuously representing the growing amount
on a dial. I shall now show for the first time an instrument that I
have devised, that will do all this in the simplest possible manner.
I have here two wheels connected by a driving band of India-rubber,
round which I have tied every few inches a piece of white silk ribbon.
I shall turn one a little way, and hold the other. The driving force is
indicated by a difference of stretching; the pieces of silk are much
further apart on the tight side than they are on the loose. I shall now
turn the handle, and cause the wheels to revolve; the motion of the
band is visible to all. The India-rubber is traveling faster on the
tight side than on the loose side, nearly twice as fast; this must be
so, for as there is less material on the tight side than on the loose,
there would be a gradual accumulation of the India-rubber round the
driven pulley, if they traveled at the same speed; since there is no
accumulation, the tight side must travel the fastest. Now it may be
shown mathematically that the difference in the speeds is proportional
both to the actual speed and to the driving strain; it is, therefore,
a measure of the power or work being transmitted, and the difference
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