A new absolute determination of the acceleration due to gravity at the National Physical Laboratory, England

1967 ◽  
Vol 261 (1120) ◽  
pp. 211-252 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Physical Laboratory ◽  
Atomic Unit ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Gravity Station ◽  
Absolute Determination ◽  
Physical Laboratory ◽  
Air Resistance ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
First Time

A new absolute determination of the acceleration due to gravity at the National Physical Laboratory has been made by timing the symmetrical free motion of a body moving under the attraction of gravity; it is the first time this method has been used. The moving body was a glass ball and it was timed at its passage across two horizontal planes by the flashes of light that it produced when it passed between two horizontal slits which served to define each plane optically, the ball focusing light from one of the slits, which was illuminated, upon the other slit which had a photomultiplier placed behind it. The separation of the two planes defined by the pairs of slits was measured interferometrically and referred directly to the international wavelength definition of the metre, while the time intervals were measured in terms of the atomic unit of time scale A l. The value of gravity as reduced to the British Fundamental Gravity Station in the N. P. L. is 981 181.75 mgal, s.d. 0.13 mgal (1 mgal = 10 -5 m/s 2 ). Systematic errors, are believed to be very small; this is particularly true of the error due to air resistance. The main contribution to the observed scatter of the results comes from microseismic disturbances. The new result is 1.4 mgal less than that obtained at the fundamental station by J. S. Clark (1939) using a reversible pendulum . It is very close to the mean of a number of recent absolute determinations by other methods, but this may not be very significant because the uncertainties of those determinations and of the comparisons between the sites at which they were made and the present site are not less than 5 times the standard deviation of the new result.

scholarly journals Gordon Brims Black McIvor Sutherland, 8 April 1907 - 27 June 1980

1982 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 589-626 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Structure ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Physical Laboratory ◽  
Andrews University ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Active Life ◽  
Physical Laboratory

As a scientist Gordon Sutherland made, at a critical time, a major contribution to the transformation of infrared spectroscopy from a research technique practised in few laboratories into a powerful and widely used method for analysis and for the determination of molecular structure. A physicist by training, he was happy to be described as a chemical physicist or a biophysicist in relation to different aspects of his researches. Later in his career he was a successful Director of the National Physical Laboratory and then Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He played an active role in British science policy. He died on 27 June 1980, in his seventy-third year, some 3 years after his retirement from the Mastership of Emmanuel College. Although after his graduation from St Andrews University Sutherland spent most of his active life in England or in the United States, he always retained the accent of a Scot, and a very deep affection for his native country. In a characteristically thoughtful way, Sutherland left behind a brief account in his own words of the earlier part of his life and career. A number of substantial quotations from his autobiographical document are included in this memoir.

scholarly journals The thermal and electrical conductivity of a single crystal of aluminium

1927 ◽  
Vol 115 (770) ◽  
pp. 236-241 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Single Crystals ◽  
Test Specimen ◽  
Average Diameter ◽  
National Physical Laboratory ◽  
Present Communication ◽  
Uniform Size ◽  
The Third ◽  
Physical Laboratory

The recent work of Carpenter and Elam on the growth of single crystals of large dimensions has rendered possible the study of the physical constants of single crystals of the commoner metals, and the present communication describes the determination of the thermal and electrical conductivity of aluminium in the form of an isolated crystal. The form of the crystal investigated is shown in fig. 1. This crystal had been prepared at the National Physical Laboratory employing the technique described by Carpenter in “Nature,” p. 266, August 21, 1926, which briefly is as follows:— The test specimen is machined and subjected to three treatments, thermal, mechanical, and thermal. The first treatment is necessary to soften the metal completely and produce new equiaxed crystals of so far as possible uniform size, the average diameter being 1/150 inch. The second consists in straining these crystals to the required amount, and the third in heating the strained crystals to the requisite temperature, so that the potentiality of growth conferred by strain could be brought fully into operation.

Address of the President, Professor P. M. S. Blackett, C.H., at the Anniversary Meeting, 30 November 1966

1967 ◽  
Vol 167 (1006) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Physical Laboratory ◽  
Simple Approach ◽  
Ionic Crystals ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Complete Structure ◽  
Principal Role ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Physical Laboratory ◽  
Royal Institution

The Copley Medal is awarded to Sir Lawrence Bragg, O.B.E., M.C., F.R.S. Bragg’s career has precisely coincided with the growth of a major field of science—the X-ray diffraction analysis of crystal structures. This had its beginning in his own early researches, and he has throughout played a principal role by his leadership at a series of laboratories, at Manchester, at the National Physical Laboratory, at Cambridge and at the Royal Institution, and in many other ways. He was the first to determine the atomic arrangement in a crystal (sodium chloride), and this work marked the introduction of a technique which has since been successfully applied to increasingly complicated molecules, culminating in the complete structure determination of the protein lysozyme at the Royal Institution a year before his retirement. Bragg has been prominent in the development of methods, beginning with the Law named after him; he also pioneered or encouraged the application of these methods in several fields—ionic crystals, elementary oxides, silicates, metals and proteins. The striking characteristic of Bragg as a scientist has been his direct and simple approach to complicated physical situations; his solutions of problems have a lucidity and simplicity which, in retrospect, make one forget how baffling they often seemed in advance.

scholarly journals V. An investigation of the flow of air an aёrofoil of infinite span

1926 ◽  
Vol 225 (626-635) ◽  
pp. 199-245 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Unit Length ◽  
Lift Coefficient ◽  
National Physical Laboratory ◽  
Inviscid Fluid ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
High Lift ◽  
Physical Laboratory ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Stream Lines

1. A great deal of attention has been directed of late years to the development of a rational theory of the aёrofoil. Prof. L. Prandtl and others in Germany have applied the principles of the hydrodynamics of a perfect fluid to the aerofoil with remarkable results, whilst investigators in this country have extended this work and have verified experimentally many of the deductions of the Prandtl theory. The assumptions underlying the work of Prandtl are, however, of uncertain validity, and it has become a matter of great importance to add to existing experimental evidence of the fundamental characteristics of the motion of a viscous fluid round an aёrofoil. With this purpose in view an aerofoil section of fairly high lift coefficient was selected, and a model of it tested in the Duplex Tunnel at the National Physical Laboratory, the field of flow being thoroughly explored with a wind-velocity meter. At the same time the theoretical stream-lines corresponding to inviscid fluid flow were determined experimentally, as described in Part II of this paper. The case considered is that of an aerofoil of infinite span, the flow being two-dimensional. A comparison was made of the theoretical and experimental distributions of pressure over the surface of the aёrofoil, as well as of the two sets of superposed stream-lines. The work has provided an experimental verification of the law of Kutta and Joukowsky, that the product of the mean velocity and density of the fluid and of the circulation (according to the hydrodynamical definition of this term) around a contour enclosing the aerofoil is equal to the lift of the aёrofoil (per unit length). It has further shown that the circulation around the aёrofoil is constant within the limits of experimental error and independent of the contour of integration chosen, provided that the contour line does not at any part approach too near to the aerofoil, and also that it cuts the trailing “wake” approximately at right angles to its core. The lowest value of the circulation found (calculated for a contour as close to the aёrofoil surface as the observations permitted) was about 6½ per cent, less than the value corresponding to the lift coefficient; this is hardly outside the limits of experimental accuracy in the neighbourhood of the aёrofoil.

scholarly journals On the determination of the absolute unit of resistance by alternating current methods

1912 ◽  
Vol 87 (597) ◽  
pp. 391-414 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Lower Order ◽  
Alternating Current ◽  
National Physical Laboratory ◽  
Mutual Inductance ◽  
Electrical Circuits ◽  
Physical Laboratory ◽  
Absolute Measure ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Set Up

1. Introductory .—Recently at the National Physical Laboratory we have constructed a standard of mutual inductance of novel type, whose value has been accurately calculated from the dimensions. This inductance has formed the basis for the determination of the unit of resistance in absolute measure by two different methods, in both of which alternating current is employed. Although there is no doubt that the accuracy attainable by these methods could be increased by greater elaboration of the apparatus used, the results already obtained seem to be of sufficient interest to warrant publication. It should be mentioned that the accuracy here aimed at was of a considerably lower order than that contemplated in the determination of the ohm by the Lorenz apparatus which is at present being carried out in the laboratory. For the experiments here described, no apparatus was specially constructed, but use was made of instruments which had already been designed and set up for the measurement of inductance and capacity. I shall first give a brief description of the standard inductance and then pass on to the methods and results. 2. Standard Mutual Inductance .—The design of the mutual inductance has already been described. The electrical circuits have the form and arrange­ment shown in section in fig. 1.

Traceability for Areal Surface Texture Measurement

2010 ◽  
Vol 437 ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Leach ◽  
Claudiu Giusca ◽  
Kazuya Naoi
Keyword(s):  
Surface Texture ◽  
Vertical Displacement ◽  
National Physical Laboratory ◽  
Air Bearing ◽  
Texture Measurement ◽  
Physical Laboratory ◽  
Working Volume ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Laser Interferometers ◽  
Areal Surface

The deterministic structuring of a surface is having a profound effect on many industrial products by allowing the manufacturer to significantly alter the way in which a surface functions. This has led to a clear need in industry and academia for traceable areal surface texture measurements. To address this need traceable transfer artefacts and primary instrumentation are required. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is working on two projects – one to develop areal transfer artefacts and one to develop a traceable areal surface texture measuring instrument. The authors describe the development of the artefacts and instrument, and present some of the challenges that are still required to be able to offer an areal traceability measurement service to industry. The instrument has a working volume of 8 mm  8 mm  0.1 mm and uses a co-planar air-bearing slideway to move the sample. It also uses a novel vertical displacement measuring probe, incorporating an air-bearing and an electromagnetic force control mechanism. The motions of the slideway and the probe are measured by laser interferometers thus ensuring traceability of the measurements to the definition of the metre. The artefacts were manufactured using a range of machining technologies and in a range of geometries suitable for stylus and optical based instruments.

DETERMINATION OF ECONOMIC DAMAGE FROM DETERIORATION/DESTRUCTION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

2018 ◽  
pp. 43-48
Author(s):  
Oksana Veklych
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Cost Estimation ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Structural Scheme ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Cost ◽  
First Time

The definition of economic damage from the deterioration/destruction of ecosystem services and analytical structuring of the economic loss from it were given for the first time. It was proposed and disclosed the logic-structural scheme that describes the algorithm of the sequence of actions and calculations for carrying out the cost estimation of damage from deterioration/destruction of ecosystem services in order to further substantiate the recommendations for additional filling of local budgets and attraction of targeted investments for implementation of projects aimed at conservation and restoration ecosystems.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document