average spatial: 20 cm x 13 cm x 44.5 cm; 7 7/8 in x 5 1/8 in x 17 1/2 in
overall: 5 1/2 in x 17 3/8 in x 8 in; 13.97 cm x 44.1325 cm x 20.32 cm
Object Name:
X-Ray Tube
x-ray tube
tube, x-ray
Description:
William David Coolidge (1873-1975) joined the General Electric Research Laboratory in 1905 and was given the task of improving the filaments of light bulbs. In 1913 he described a x-ray tube with heated tungsten filament that permitted higher operating voltages, and revolutionized the field of radiology. This example is a radiator tube used by Jacob Sharp (1890-1983), a dentist in New Haven, Conn. An inscription reads “10 M.A. / COOLIDGE / G E / TUBE.”
Ref: General Electric Company, Coolidge X-ray Tube (February 1920).
Location:
Currently not on view
Credit Line:
Gift of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry