Smoked glass

Smoked glass is glass held in the smoke of a candle flame (or other inefficiently burning hydrocarbon) such that one surface of the sheet of glass is covered in a layer of smoke residue. The glass is used as a medium for recording pen traces in scientific instruments, and is also used to track pheromone deposition in ants[1]

The advantages of using the smoked glass are that the recording medium is easily renewable (the glass can be easily re-smoked), and that the trace obtained can easily be projected and magnified.[2][3][4] A variation on this scheme is the use of smoked paper in early seismographs.[5]

A smoked glass can be created by adding darkening materials during manufacturing to decrease the brightness of light passing through the glass. It can be used aesthetically, for decoration. It can also be used in scientific instruments as a filter, such as in cross-staves and sextants, allowing operators to make sun sightings without damaging their eyesight.

See also

References

  1. ^ Evison, Sophie E. F.; Hart, Adam G.; Jackson, Duncan E. (2008-03-01). "Minor workers have a major role in the maintenance of leafcutter ant pheromone trails". Animal Behaviour. 75 (3): 963–969. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.07.013. ISSN 0003-3472. S2CID 53147539.
  2. ^ "11.6.1.2 The Tomlinson Surface Meter". Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  3. ^ Janet R. Stein-Taylor; Elisabeth Gantt; Johan A. Hellebust; J. S. Craigie (1973). Handbook of Phycological Methods: Developmental and Cytological Methods. Cambridge [England] University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-521-24915-7.
  4. ^ "Development-Inspection of Gas-Turbine Components at D. Napier & Son, Ltd.: Recording Profiles on Smoked Glass: Equipment and Technique". Aircraft Production. 12 (139). Iliffe Production Publications: 161–166. May 1950.
  5. ^ Jens Havskov & Gerardo Alguacil. Instrumentation in Earthquake Seismology. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4020-2968-4.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.