The Physics Laboratory
The Physics Department is supplied with two laboratories, adequately equipped with standard and special apparatus for quantitative measurements in elementary mechanics, heat, sound, light, and electricity. Its furnishings include sensitive physical balances, acceleration apparatus, coincidence and compound pendulums, Young’s Modulus and centrifugal force apparatus, force tables, ballistic pendulums, microscopes, radiation equipment, and specially designed equipment for obtaining centers of gravity and moments of inertia of various specimens.
Equipment is at hand for performing standard experiments in heat. Kundt’s tubes, electric tuning forks and resonance tubes are provided for experiments in sound. Measurements in light employ diffraction gratings, prisms, lenses, and mirrors. A first class optical bench with Lummer-Brodhun head, 30″ sphere photometer, illuminometer, and Weston Photronic cells are used for illumination measurements. An equipment of meters, resistance units, Wheatstone bridges, potentiometer sets and traction permeameter is provided for elementary electrical measurements.
Strength of Materials Laboratory
The Strength of Materials Laboratory has been designed for the purpose of student instruction. With this in mind, the size of the apparatus has been kept within moderate limits so that the student may perform the test. The laboratory is housed in two adjoining rooms. The first room is equipped with:
- 1—100,000 lb Olsen Std. Tension Compression Test Machine.
- 1—50,000 lb Machine of the same sort.
- 1—50,000 lb hand operated Riehle Tension Compression Machine fitted with extra size screw for column work.
- 1—5000 lb Riehle Machine.
- 2—Punch Presses for shear studies.
- 2—Sets of Apparatus for testing Eccentric Riveted Joints.
- 1—Gyration Pendulum.
- 1—Polarized Light Stress Analyzer.
- 1—Torsion Demonstrator.
- 1—Slender Column Tester, also
- Brinell Hardness Meter
- Shore Scleroscope
- Portable Brinell Tester
Extensometers, Strain Gauges, Shear Testers, for the above machines. Torsion Meter, Planimeters, etc.
In the second room the cement and concrete testing appliances have been concentrated, including:
- 1—Riehle Briquette Testing Machine
- Concrete Cylinder Moulds
- Concrete Beam Moulds
- Vicat Needles
- Briquette Moulds, etc.
- Moist Storage Cabinet
- Sand and Gravel Bins
- 1—Power Concrete Mixer