About This

• This DECORATIVE SOLAR RADIOMETER is sure to impress and will make a great gift for science lovers, demonstrate the conversion of radiation energy into kinetic energy. Place the radiometer in a sunny spot and watch thermodynamics in action, once it soaks up some rays it becomes a real solar engine, the stronger the light, the faster it will spin.
• These CURIOUS AND MESMERISING instruments measure the power of electromagnetic radiation. Made from a glass bulb with much of the air removed to form a partial vacuum, inside is a set of fine metal vanes, each with one dark and one light side, mounted on a spindle.
• The vanes rotate, as if by magic, when exposed to sunlight, artificial light, or infrared radiation (even the heat of a hand nearby can be enough) – the more intense the light, the faster the rotation.
• The radiometer stands 15cm | 6 inches high the glass ball has a diameter of 8cm | 3.1 inches, carefully made of high borosilicate glass, clear to see what happening inside, the base and stem are blue coloured.
• Solar radiometers are also known as LIGHT MILLS because light moves their blades as opposed to wind for windmills. Invented by the chemist Sir William Crookes as the by-product of some chemical research is more of a beautiful science gizmo than a means of accurate measurement.