Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - First Years of Engineering Experiment Station (1906) [PAGE 30]

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14

ILLINOIS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION

stant temperature baths are being made for the convenience and rapid comparison of thermometers. The equipment for pyrometry is the best obtainable. The department owns a Callendar recorder of the laboratory type and a Whipple indicator with a series of platinum resistance thermometers r a n g i n g from 0° C. to 1200° C. I n addition to these electric resistance pyrometers, a series of thermo-electric pyrometers is available for checking and testing other pyrometers. The thermo-electric couples with Keichsanstalt certificates are calibrated for temperatures from -180° C. to 1600° C. T h e laws of t h e relation of temperature, light and radiation, have within a few years been studied, so t h a t it is now possible to measure temperatures by optical methods. The equipment in optical pyrometry consists of the L e Chaletier, the Wanner and F e r y radiation pyrometers. F o r the production of extreme temperatures, both low and high, the department is provided with a liquid-air machine, and with electric furnaces of the arc and of the resistance types. A specially protected constant temperature room h a s been provided for work of all kinds requiring constancy of temperature. Electrical Standards and Apparatus.—The department owns certified standards of resistance, electromotive force and inductances, and its cabinets contain apparatus of the best make for all electrical and magnetic testing. The Kelvin ampere balances, Weston standard and semi-portable voltmeters and ammeters, and Siemen's electrodynamometers of the department are frequently checked by the potentiometer with standardized resistances and Clark and Weston cells. The laboratory is supplied not only with apparatus but also with piers and conveniences for these tests. Miscellaneous Testing.—Besides the equipment for the work in the t h r e e lines indicated above, the department of Physics is supplied for its instructional and research work with standard apparatus of a variety of kinds, all of which is available for testing purposes. Such facilities are'standard barometers, standards of length, photometric standards with photometers, standards of weight with sensitive physical balances, a dividing engine and comparator, vacuum and compression pumps with gauges, and various optical apparatus.