Harris's balance electrometer, 1840-74.

Harris's Balance Electrometer

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Harris's Balance Electrometer
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Harris's Balance Electrometer

Snow Harris (1840-1874) designed this instrument in 1834 to compare the quantity of electricity imparted to a substance with its attractive power. In an experiment similar to Petrus van Musschenbroek's concerning magnetism a century before in 1725, he weighed the force of the electric attraction on a balance. The instrument was made by J. Newman.

Details

Category:
King George III
Object Number:
1927-1190
Materials:
brass, glass, boxwood, lignum vitae and mahogany
type:
electrometer and balance electrometer
credit:
King's College, London