bench with 6 Chladni plates and vioin bow
Date: circa 1850
Inventory Number: 1998-1-0081
Classification: Chladni Plate
Subject:
Maker: Marloye et Cie (fl. 1850)
Maker: Albert Marloye (1795 - 1874)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
38.5 x 110 x 10.3 cm (15 3/16 x 43 5/16 x 4 1/16 in.)
Accessories: horsehair cello bow
Description:
Six brass Chladni plates of various shapes, sizes, and thicknesses are mounted on turned oak columns. Three plates are circular, three are square. They are all supported by a long oak stand. A horsehair bow was used to generate the plates' vibration modes.
In Collection(s)
Signedon stand: MARLOYE ET CIE A PARIS
FunctionTo visualize two-dimensional vibration patterns. To create the patterns, one would have held the plate between two fingers at one of the vibration nodes, and with a fiddle bow would have struck the plate until the pattern emerged. It takes a good amount of practice to make this happen. Depending on which node and where you strike the plate, different patterns emerge. The nodes and antinodes from the vibrations are felt by the fine salt sprinkled on the plate, thus creating the visible patterns (the same way iron filings shows magnetic lines).
Several examples of Chladni plates can be seen on YouTube and elsewhere. See, for instance, the one from the Harvey Mudd College.
A demonstration of a set of Chladni plates like this one was produced for the Fondazione Scienza e Tecnica, Florence by Paolo Brenni and can be watched here.
Several examples of Chladni plates can be seen on YouTube and elsewhere. See, for instance, the one from the Harvey Mudd College.
A demonstration of a set of Chladni plates like this one was produced for the Fondazione Scienza e Tecnica, Florence by Paolo Brenni and can be watched here.
Primary SourcesAlbert Marloye, Catalogue des principaux appareils d'acoustique et autres objets qui se fabriquent chez Marloye à Paris, rue Saint-Jacques, 161 et rue des Fossés-Saint-Jacques, 1, 3rd ed. (Paris: Impr. de Bonaventure et Ducessois, 1851).