Rheometer (?)

Rheometer (?)

Physics; Rheology (?)

Physical Description: Rectangular brass box with removable lid on top of black iron base. Brass box is mostly hollow. A shaft with a heavy wheel on it runs through the box; the wheel is inside the box. On either side of the box, centered around the shaft, are braces that hold four thin metal arms which contact a cylinder set around the shaft. Paired letters BR and BA are arranged radially around the long-end brace; letters GA and BA are arranged radially around the short-end brace. The shaft is not centered in the box; it is mounted about a quarter of the way toward one end. It also protrudes about twice as far on one side than the other. The long end is capped by a wider cylinder that has a groove running around it that appears to fit a belt. The base has four holes in the corners for mounting.

Functional description: If the object is in fact a rheometer, it is used by attaching a belt to the cylinder and rotating it while the box is filled with a liquid or slurry. The thin metal arms pass over differently-colored squares on the shaft when it is spun, which could serve to measure the reaction of the contents to the force exerted by the wheel. The primary issue with this theory is that the box was not sealed; holes in the sides for screws have too large of tolerances to prevent fluid from leaking. However, this may be caused by missing parts or a niche feature unique to this device.

Timothy Maze, Liam Anderson, Zach Nicholas, Peter Amundsen

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No text is available by which to identify the object's origin, but given its lack of markings, it was likely constructed at Michigan Tech.

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Iron base: 25.5 x 2.2 x 11.3 cm
Brass box: 19.1 x 10.3 x 7.0 cm
Shaft: 21 cm, 0.9cm diam

N/A; lettering is in the Latin alphabet.

Physics

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Unknown; likely United States