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Structure of mechanism |
| Function |
This instrument comprises a horizontal beam, which oscillates on a knife-edge which is in fact a steel prism. This knife-edge is part of the beam. At each extremity of the beam is another knife-edge (facing upwards) on which is suspended a staple supporting two pans. Two nuts on threaded shafts enable the balance adjustment of the mobile parts. A very long needle fixed to the middle of the beam, facing downwards, moves in front of a very small graduated scale to facilitate the monitoring of the equilibrium. On the front of the apparatus is a screw which is used to raise or lower the beam with respect to the knife-edge fulcrum. This avoids unnecessary wear when the scale is not in use. A drawer located on the front of the device is used for storing the accessories as well as the dismantled scale.
The instrument is protected by a glass case with a wooden frame, to avoid the influence of air movements which could affect the precision of the weighing process. The front panel slides open to give access to the scale. |
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Application |
| Examples of application |
The device is used to weigh light objects, principally in the fields of pharmacy of chemistry. It was used by future teachers during their studies at the men’s and women’s teacher training colleges, now the IUFM (University Teacher Training Institute) in Clermont-Ferrand. |
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