Saxton's metallic thermometer
Saxton's metallic thermometer, 1848 - thermometer and cradle.
- Object Number:
- 1876-816 Pt1
- type:
- thermometers
Thermometer with bimetallic element for measuring temperature at depth at sea, by Joseph Saxton
- Made:
- 1848 in United States
- maker:
- Joseph Saxton
Thermometer for measuring temperatures at depth at sea, with bimetallic element, based on a design by Breguet and made by Joseph Saxton, instrument maker to the US Coast Survey, United States, about 1848.
Surveyors and navigators struggled to obtain accurate temperature readings from the deep sea because the pressure at depth rendered inaccurate the readings from conventional mercury thermometers.
This thermometer’s element consisted of coiled ribbons of silver and platinum, each soldered to a coil of gold. The different coefficient of expansion of each metal meant that a change in temperature caused the element to bend. The reading could be read from the dial, hidden under a protective lid.
Details
- Category:
- Oceanography
- Object Number:
- 1876-816
- type:
- thermometer
- credit:
- Admiralty Hydrographic Department
Parts
Thermometer with bimetallic element for measuring temperature at depth at sea, by Joseph Saxton
Thermometer for measuring temperatures at depth at sea, with bimetallic element, based on a design by Breguet and made by Joseph Saxton, instrument maker to the US Coast Survey, United States, about 1848.
More
Surveyors and navigators struggled to obtain accurate temperature readings from the deep sea because the pressure at depth rendered inaccurate the readings from conventional mercury thermometers.
This thermometer’s element consisted of coiled ribbons of silver and platinum, each soldered to a coil of gold. The different coefficient of expansion of each metal meant that a change in temperature caused the element to bend. The reading could be read from the dial, hidden under a protective lid.
- Object Number:
- 1876-816 pt1/1
- type:
- thermometers
- Image ©
- The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
- Part of:
- 1876-816 Pt1
Cradle for thermometer with bimetallic element for measuring temperature at depth at sea, by Joseph Saxton
Cradle for thermometer for measuring temperatures at depth at sea, with bimetallic element, based on a design by Breguet and made by Joseph Saxton, instrument maker to the US Coast Survey, United States, about 1848.
More
Surveyors and navigators struggled to obtain accurate temperature readings from the deep sea because the pressure at depth rendered inaccurate the readings from conventional mercury thermometers.
This thermometer’s element consisted of coiled ribbons of silver and platinum, each soldered to a coil of gold. The different coefficient of expansion of each metal meant that a change in temperature caused the element to bend. The reading could be read from the dial, hidden under a protective lid.
- Object Number:
- 1876-816 pt1/2
- type:
- case - container
- Image ©
- The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
- Part of:
- 1876-816 Pt1
