Scales and balances have been around since Ancient Egypt. The gold standard for weighing and comparing two masses was the lowly equal-arm balance on a fulcrum.
Scales have evolved greatly and now serve a wide variety of purposes. Uses range from chemical weighing in the lab to shipping package weighing.
Different Types of Balances
Analytical Balance
These are often only seen in specialized settings, such as laboratories, where extremely precise weighing is required. Mass is evaluated with analytical balances. Since the results of chemical analysis are always based on mass, they are not affected by the specific gravity of any given site.
The typical analytical balance has a capacity anywhere from 1 g to a few kilos with precision and accuracy of greater than 1 x 10106 even when operating at maximum capacity. Here you can check out some of the best precision lab balances.
An analytical equilibrium relies on several key factors. When loading or unloading the pan, the mechanical beam arrest protects the sensitive interior components from being damaged.
When using a balance, the item to be measured is placed in the pan. Adjustable feet called “leveling feet” are used to reset the center of gravity to the starting position.
A vital aspect of any balance, the spirit level, leveling bubble, or plumb bob establishes the reference point. When using an analytical balance, even slight breezes might throw off the reading. They need a draft shield to prevent this from happening. This is a doored plastic or glass cage that serves as a means of gaining access to the pan.
Equal Arm or Trip Balance
Those ancient Egyptian scales have been updated, and this is the result. Two pans sit on either side of a lever on this laboratory scale. It has two distinct applications. Standard weights are put in one pan while the thing to be weighed is placed in the other pan.
The mass of the thing is equal to the sum of the standard weights. You may also use the scale to level two pans by placing them side by side on separate scales and adjusting one of them until the pans are even.
This is helpful in situations where two objects need to weigh the same, like in balance tubes or centrifugation.
Top-Loading Balance
Another balance that finds its primary application in the laboratory. Typically, they have a weighing range of 150 g to 5000 g. They are less readable than an analytical balance, but they allow for rapid measurements, making them a good option when precision is not required.
When compared to analytical balances, top-loaders are less expensive. Most top-loading balances today are digital and powered by electricity, allowing for instantaneous readings.
Platform Scale
This multiplicative scale relies on a set of levers. It makes it possible to set down a weighty object on a stable surface. The platform’s mass is transferred to a beam, and the beam’s equilibrium is maintained by adjusting the position of a counterpoise.
Applications for this type of scale include weighing drums and even animals at veterinary clinics.
Spring Balance
Hooke’s Law, which states that the tension in spring is proportionate to the strain, is used in this kind of balance. The main component of a spring balance is a strong steel helical spring with a high degree of elasticity that is strung from a single point.
At the spring’s lowest position, the weighing pan is secured. There is no need for human intervention in the form of adjusting the weights because an indicator displays the reading. A supermarket produce scale is an instance of this type of balancing.
Torsion Balance
The degree of twist in a wire or fiber is used as a unit of measurement. Torsion balances are commonly used in microbalances and ultra-micro balances, which can measure weights down to the nanogram range. Quartz crystal is a typical form of fiber.
Triple-Beam Balance
This laboratory balance isn’t as precise as a top-loading balance, but it still gets the job done. Because of their low price, long lifespan, and ease of use, they are frequently employed in educational settings.
Triple-beam balances are so named because they use three separate beams of weights, each of which slides along its own set of scales. Typical increments for the three decades are 100g, 10g, and 1g. These scales aren’t as readable as others, but they can still handle most home weighing needs.
Myself Aditya and I am from Mumbai, India. As an intern, I joined the local news agency in Mumbai named “The Mumbai News”. Now I am working with various News Agencies and I provide them reports from Mumbai and other parts of India.
