Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #00985
To: beam@corp.sgi.com
From: Justin jaf60@student.canterbury.ac.nz
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 05:08:12 +1300
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: mercury switches
> hi all... jus a simple question... wat in the world is a mercury switch??
A tilt switch or angle switch.
Mercury conducts, so if you put a drop of it in a tube, and at one end
of the tube put two contacts (that are not touching), they become a
switch that closes when the tube is held so that the contacts-end is
lower than the rest of the tube, mercury rolls down tube and connects
the contacts together. Other arrangements of contacts allow for other
switching actions.
(I've played with great old thing that must have had at least a cubic
centimeter of mercury in it, very heavy. It was arranged with three
contacts in a row, but spaced far enough apart that the mercury couldn't
connect all three at once - so the middle terminal was connected to one
or other terminals depnding on the angle.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/alt-beam
Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com
Home