science

Kammatograph

Kammatograph is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kammatograph rather than just read about it. In short: The Kammatograph was a system for motion pictures patented in 1898 in the UK by Leonard Ulrich Kamm and marketed to the general public from 1900. It used a circular glass plate rather than a spool of film for the images.

Key takeaways

Kammatograph belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kammatograph to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kammatograph from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Kammatograph was a system for motion pictures patented in 1898 in the UK by Leonard Ulrich Kamm and marketed to the general public from 1900. It used a circular glass plate rather than a spool of film for the images.

Inventor Leo (Leonard) Ulrich Kamm (born 1861) invented and patented the Kammatograph system for moving pictures. It was one of the products of his company, Kamm and Co that he had founded in 1892 to manufacture electrical goods and camera equipment. He used patents to protect his intellectual property. He was granted a British patent on 3 December 1898 for "Improvements in apparatus for photographing and exhibiting cinematographic pictures" that describes the Kammatograph.

Technical aspects A kammatograph was made of Spanish mahogany, aluminium, and gun metal, was 14 x 13.5 x 3.5 inches (35.5 x 34.3 x 8.9 cm) in size and weighed about 8 lbs (3.6 kg). The photographic images were arranged on a 12 inch (30.5 cm) glass disc in a spiral, providing a distinction from other systems. The glass disc was coated with a photosensitive gelatine emulsion. To record images, the lens cap was removed and the disc was rotated in front of the lens by hand. It could record 300 or 550 images and a gauge at the back of the camera showed how many exposures were left. The disc was removed from the camera in a dark room and processed to produce a negative in the same way as contemporary photographic plates. A circular positive print could be made from the negative as a contact print. This could then be used in the camera to show the pictures, after changing the shutter and lens stop. From a distance of 20 feet (6 m) it could project a 6 foot (1.8 m) square image onto a screen. When complete, each film could last 30 – 45 seconds.

Commercial aspects The kammatograph was one of the product of L Kamm and Co., scientific engineers and manufacturers, 27 Powell Street, Cromwell Road, London E.C. The company produced kammatographs and all the necessary accessories. Two selling-points were that it did not require flammable celluloid film and that it was easier for amateur photographers to use at home than other contemporary systems. A significant disadvantage was that each recording had to be short and editing was not possible.

Impact on cinematography A kammatograph was used around 1901 by William Norman Lascelles Davidson and Benjamin Jumeaux in experiments with colour which led to Kinemacolor which was the first commercially successful colour motion film process. Henderina Scott pioneered time-lapse photography of plants in 1903 using a kammatograph. Kamm and Co. Ltd. assisted her in optimising the equipment for time-lapse.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kammatograph

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kammatograph claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kammatograph before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kammatograph ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kammatograph

In research: Kammatograph appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kammatograph in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kammatograph is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics History of film, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kammatograph outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kammatograph in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kammatograph means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kammatograph out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kammatograph in simple terms?

Why does Kammatograph matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kammatograph?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kammatograph.