The Phonodeik is an sound

Sound

Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...

 recording apparatus invented by Dayton Miller

Dayton Miller

Dayton Clarence Miller was an American physicist, astronomer, acoustician, and accomplished amateur flautist...

 in 1908. The Phonodeik converts sound waves into visual images. The name was suggested by Edward W. Morley

Edward Morley

Edward Williams Morley was an American scientist famous for the Michelson–Morley experiment.-Biography:...

. Before electronic oscilloscopes, this device was used for analyzing sounds wave

Wave

In physics, a wave is a disturbance that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy.Waves travel and the wave motion transfers energy from one point to another, often with no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium—that is, with little or no associated mass...

s. The Phonodeik can be modified to project sound waves on a screen for public demonstration.

Description

The Phonodeik used photograph

Photograph

A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

ic material to record sound. A diaphragm

Diaphragm (acoustics)

In the field of acoustics, a diaphragm is a transducer intended to faithfully inter-convert mechanical motion and sound. It is commonly constructed of a thin membrane or sheet of various materials. The varying air pressure of the sound waves imparts vibrations onto the diaphragm which can then be...

 receiver of thin glass is at the end of a resonator horn. Behind the diaphragm is a steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 pulley

Pulley

A pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present...

 spindle

Spindle (tool)

In machine tools, a spindle is a rotating axis of the machine, which often has a shaft at its heart. The shaft itself is called a spindle, but also, in shop-floor practice, the word often is used metonymically to refer to the entire rotary unit, including not only the shaft itself, but its bearings...

 mounted in jeweled bearings with an attach mirror

Mirror

A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...

 and oscillating tension spring. Wrapped on the pulley spindle is thin silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

 fiber

Fiber

Fiber is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread.They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together....

s or platinum

Platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

 wire

Wire

A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...

turning around the mirror with amplitude. The sound vibrates the diaphragm on the bottom and a light beam is reflected to the sensitive photographic paper (or a projection screen).

External links and references

• "Lecture III -- Methods of recording and photographing sound waves -- Phonodeik". The science of musical sounds.
• Hoekje, Peter L. and William Fickinger, "Acoustic teaching apparatus before 1929 at the Case School of Applied Science".
• Gilliam, L., and W. Lichtenwanger, "The Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection: A Checklist of the Instruments". Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. 1961. [via American Menory]
• Greenslade, Jr., Thomas B., "The Sonograph ". Instruments for Natural Philosophy, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio.
• "fonodèik". Enciclopedia Generale. (Italian)
• Miller, Dayton, Sound Waves: Their Shape and Speed. 1937.
• Miller, Dayton. The Science of Musical Sounds. 1916.