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Dynamical top (ABDUA:201351a)

AssociatedAssociated with James Clerk Maxwell (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1831 - 1879)

ClassificationsScience And Technology

AcquisitionUniversity of Aberdeen Museums & Special Collections.

CopyrightImages reproduced with the permission of University of Aberdeen Museums & Special Collections.

LocationOn Display - Provost Skene's House

Object numberX000644

About MeMaxwell’s dynamical top comprises a brass top on a brass stand which was designed by James Clerk Maxwell as part of his investigations into movement and the principles of rotation whilst he was Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) at the University of Aberdeen during the 1850s.

The top and stand can be adjusted to test different effects. James undertook a series of experiments into colour using the brass dynamical top. By adding discs to the top of the wheel with different amounts of colour and then spinning the wheel faster than the eye can follow, the colours appear to mix together. Using this method, James discovered that white light results from a mixture of red, green, and blue light.

For more information about this object, which belongs to the collection of the University of Aberdeen Museums & Special Collections, visit:

https://calm.abdn.ac.uk/museums/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=ABDNP%3a201351a

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