3B Scientific Magdeburg Plates User Manual
Instruction sheet
4
Instruction Sheet
3B SCIENTIFIC® PHYSICS
U45054 Magdeburg Plates
7/03 ALF
®
Complete set of equipment for conducting Guericke’s
historical experiment to show the effect of atmospheric
pressure. The experiment can be performed as a dem-
onstration or as a student practical.
1. Safety Instructions
• Do not try to pry the two evacuated hemispheres
apart using tools.
• Do not try to separate the hemispheres using ropes
or similar, because when they do separate they can
turn into projectiles.
• Ample space should be left behind the persons try-
ing to separate the Magdeburg plates
• Do not use excessive force when connecting the
hose. Do not use any more force than you can gen-
erate from your fingers to connect the hose.
• When ventilating the hemispheres hold on tight to
the apparatus so that you can avoid any damage
from the hemispheres falling.
• Be careful not to scratch the inner surfaces of the
plates.
• To clean, only use warm water with a small amount
of washing-up liquid. Never use solvents.
Description, technical data
The Magdeburg plates kit consists of two transparent
acrylic plates with handles and a rubber sealing ring
to be placed between them. They can be pushed to-
gether with a coarse vacuum between them. Sealing
rings of two different sizes allow comparison between
the effects of atmospheric for two differing contact
areas. One plate is equipped with a flange for attach-
ing a plastic hose so that a vacuum can be generated.
Evacuation is performed using a simple hand pump.
This can be connected via a plastic-hose with a built-
in valve. An additional T-piece allows a pressure sen-
sor (e.g. U44220) to be connected for measuring pres-
sure in conjunction with a suitable interface (e.g.
LabPro U44000).
The advantage of the Magdeburg plates over the hemi-
spheres usually used in lessons is that, due to the flat
design, all forces act parallel to the plates allowing the
forces to be calculated easily.
Transparent acrylic plates: 13 mm x 97 mm Ø
Sealing rings:
5 mm x 85 mm Ø
inside
and 95 mm Ø
outside
5 mm x 50 mm Ø
inside
and 60 mm Ø
outside
2.1 Scope of delivery
2 Transparent acrylic plates with handles
2 Rubber sealing rings of different diameters
1 Hand pump in storage case
1 Hose with valve
1 Hose with T-piece and valve
1 T-piece
1 Spare hose connector
1
Hose with T-piece and valve
2
Hose with valve
3
Transparent acrylic plate with flange for hose attachment
4
Transparent acrylic plate
5
Rubber sealing rings
6
T-piece
7
Spare hose connector
8
Hand pump
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8