Leverage scales: interesting facts

The word "scales" has several meanings and causes different associations in a person. Amateur astronomers certainly thought of the constellation, astrologers - about the sign of the Zodiac, and most about the forthcoming trip to the store or to the market for groceries. With the measurement of weight, we are constantly confronted in our life and do not even think about what an ancient story this device has and how far the person has advanced in his cultivation.

What is a lever scale

When it comes to weighing the masses of any goods or chemical ingredients, most often imagine a small rocker with two sticks (bowls) and an arrow, one of which is placed the body, the weight of which is to be determined, and the second - standard weights, and seek Their equilibrium. To measure small weights, weights are used, and for large loads, a device with a lever that is offset from the middle is used (single-arm and non-equilateral lever scales).

A bit of history

How do you think, when people came up with a device for measuring mass? Archaeologists, engaged in excavations in Mesopotamia, believe that the first lever scales appeared five thousand years before our era. And the very first written mention of this device was found in the "Book of the Measured" of the ancient Egyptians, which was written around 1250 BC. The document tells about the equal-arm beam, which God Anubis used to weigh the heart of the deceased. On the first side of the scale was a statuette depicting the ancient Egyptian goddess of justice Maat, and on the second lay the heart of the deceased. The further fate of the soul depended on the outcome of such a weighing: when the "justice" was outweighed, it fell into paradise, and with the outbreak of the heart, the torments of hell awaited it. Equal lever scales were also widely used in Ancient Babylon. In Eastern Turkey, the stone stela (the first millennium BC), which depicts a Hittite using his finger instead of a rocker, is still preserved. After this, historical facts show that to determine the mass of people began to use the new principle, consisting in the use of mobile weights at a constant point of support of weight gain. A new type of lever scales appear in Ancient Rome and have a pair of hook-shaped handles and two scales. One of the first tools of this type was found in Pompeii. In the 12th century AD, the Arab scientists already knew weight equipment that allowed an error of 0.1%, which allowed it to be used to forfeit counterfeit money, jewelry, and also used to determine the density of bodies.

The definition of mass in our time

Despite the fact that electronics in the modern world increasingly supplant mechanics, the linkage is still popular and is widely used to determine the mass. At the same time scales medical, laboratory, trading, technical, working without application of electronics for a long time already have given way to modern devices and turn gradually to antiques. Technologies are developing in our time so rapidly that it is possible that our grandchildren will be able to see the good old weights only in museums. However for us the symbol of weights will always look like two small cups suspended on a small thin rocker.