Oxford Electric Bell

The Oxford Electric Bell in December 2009

Charged by the two piles, the clapper moves back and forth between the two bells.

The Oxford Electric Bell or Clarendon Dry Pile is an experimental electric bell that was set up in 1840 and which has rung almost continuously ever since. It is located in the foyer of the Clarendon Laboratory at the University of Oxford, England. As of December 2009^[update] it has been moved into an adjacent corridor due to building works but is still ringing, though inaudibly due to being behind two layers of glass.

The experiment consists of two brass bells, each positioned beneath a dry pile (a form of battery), the pair of piles connected in series. A metal sphere approximately 4 mm in diameter is suspended between the piles, and rings the bells by means of electrostatic force. As the clapper touches one bell, it is charged by one pile, and then electrostatically repelled, being attracted to the other bell. On hitting the other bell, the process repeats. The use of electrostatic forces means that while high voltage is required to create motion, only a tiny amount of charge is carried from one bell to the other, which is why the piles have been able to last since the apparatus was set up. Its oscillation frequency is 2 hertz.^[1]

Probably the most interesting part of the bell is the pair of dry piles. Nobody is certain what they are composed of, but it is known that they have been coated with molten sulphur to prevent effects from atmospheric moisture and it is thought that they may be Zamboni piles.

At one point this sort of device played an important role in distinguishing between two different theories of electrical action: the theory of contact tension (an obsolete scientific theory based on then-prevailing electrostatic principles) and the theory of chemical action.

The Oxford Electric Bell does not demonstrate perpetual motion. The bell will eventually stop when the dry piles are depleted of charge — that is, if the clapper does not wear out first.^[2][3]

See also

• Franklin bells
• Beverly Clock (1864)
• Pitch drop experiment (1927)

References

1. ^ Oxford Electric Bell, Atlas Obscura.
2. ^ The World's Longest Experiment, The Longest List of the Longest Stuff at the Longest Domain Name at Long Last.
3. ^ The Latest on Long-Running Experiments, Improbable Research.

Further reading

• Willem Hackmann, "The Enigma of Volta's "Contact Tension" and the Development of the "Dry Pile"", appearing in Nuova Voltiana: Studies on Volta and His Times, nb Volume 3 (Fabio Bevilacqua; Lucio Frenonese (Editors)), 2000, pp. 103–119.
• "Exhibit 1 - The Clarendon Dry Pile". Oxford Physics Teaching, History Archive. http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/history.asp?page=Exhibit1. Retrieved 2008-01-18. 
• Croft, A J (1984). "The Oxford electric bell". European Journal of Physics 5 (4): 193. Bibcode 1984EJPh....5..193C. doi:10.1088/0143-0807/5/4/001. 
• Croft, A J (1985). "The Oxford electric bell". European Journal of Physics 6 (2): 128. Bibcode 1985EJPh....6..128C. doi:10.1088/0143-0807/6/2/511.