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Guericke's Magdeburg Hemispheres Experiment
In 1654, Otto von Guericke, mayor of Magdeburg, demonstrated the famous Magdeburg hemispheres experiment before Emperor Ferdinand III at the Regensbu…
Timeline
- 1650–1654Magdeburg · Brandenburg-PrussiaAs mayor of Magdeburg, Otto von Guericke studied vacuum phenomena in his spare time. Around 1650 he invented a piston vacuum pump and designed two copper hemispheres (about 37 cm in diameter) that fit together precisely, to test the relationship between vacuum and atmospheric pressure.
- 1654Regensburg · BavariaAt the Regensburg Imperial Diet, before Emperor Ferdinand III and numerous nobles, Guericke publicly demonstrated the Magdeburg hemispheres experiment: the two copper hemispheres were joined and the air inside pumped out, after which multiple teams of horses were harnessed to pull from both ends but could not separate them, vividly displaying the astonishing strength of atmospheric pressure and stunning all present.
Sources
- Experimenta Nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburgica de Vacuo Spatio — Otto von Guericke (1672)
- The New Experiments of Magdeburg on Empty Space — Otto von Guericke (1994)
- A History of the Sciences — Stephen F. Mason (1962)