Glass Presses

Title

Glass Presses

Subject

Polarized Light

Description

Glass, when stressed, shows the property of double refraction: light of differing polarization directions bends differently passing through the glass. When placed between crossed polarizers , bands of color may be seen, with the spacing of the bands being correlated to the amount of stress present at a particular point: small spacing indicates large stress. These devices were for stressing glass samples to demonstrate this effect.

Source

Property of the W&L Physics & Engineering Department

Files

instruments 016.JPG
Date Added
November 14, 2011
Tags
Citation
“Glass Presses,” Antique Scientific Instruments at Washington and Lee University, accessed April 27, 2024, https://physicsapparatus.omeka.net/items/show/15.