I was studying radio astronomy and came across the picture of the Very Large Array of radio telescopes in Socorro New Mexico USA, when it dawned on me that I could use multiple tiny accurate balances to measure larger things. I would just need to find flat bottomed objects or a lightweight flat bottomed carrier to hold non-flat objects.
From Wikipedia: Very Large Arrays of radio telescopes are used to act as a single larger telescope. The antennas can be physically relocated to a number of prepared positions, allowing aperture synthesis interferometry with a maximum baseline of 36 km (22 miles): in essence, the array acts as a single antenna with that diameter.
From Wikipedia: Very Large Arrays of radio telescopes are used to act as a single larger telescope. The antennas can be physically relocated to a number of prepared positions, allowing aperture synthesis interferometry with a maximum baseline of 36 km (22 miles): in essence, the array acts as a single antenna with that diameter.
Very Large Array:
Very Large A-Weigh
Each balance can weigh up to 100 grams to an accuracy of 1/100th of a gram, or one place in 10,000. I think 4 balances would be able to weigh up to 400 grams with an accuracy of +/-0.04 grams. Each balance has a cost of $11.80, so four would cost a little less than fifty dollars to weigh almost a pound.
Link: Previous Blog Post about my Scale "Lotza Fun in Tiny Weighs"
The Very Large Array photo from Wikipedia is used under the GNU Free Documentation License
Posts
7 comments:
OK Mr ESB although of great interest (on a scale of say 1 to 10 we are talking maybe a 9), just how many of these things do you have.
Rob: I own slightly less than 1.01 of these things. I do know how to combine multiple photographs into one, and use a tripod. I think it would actuaLLy require around ten of them to reaLLy weigh an iPad in the protective jacket thingie. The same Chinese company makes a similar balance capable of weighing 2000 grams with a 0.1 gram accuracy, I believe that device costs around $40.
I have learned something today from your post- have you ever thought about teaching?
Shelly: My mother was a teacher and I taught 4-5 year old Sunday School a very long time ago. I have thought about being a teacher, but I enjoy being somewhat free in a semi-retired state of managing businesses, and now I am heavily interested in physics and HVAC. My first college degree is in chemistry, with a previous industrial emphasis in organic. I like being at home with my dog and having a somewhat open schedule, so having a regular M-F job has little appeal unless it would be interesting and paid eXtremely weLL. I liked solving problems and inventing things, but I am in a heavy learning phase of my life. I just recently finished my HVAC diploma. I enjoy helping people with their HVAC problems. Toys.
Dagnabit it, esb! Stop teaching us stuff!
:-)
Not really. Very interesting!
Pearl
Pearl: I love it when you get aLL eXcited and start dagnabitting. I am not too sure, but I believe a dagnabit is 1/8 of a dagnabyte. Oopz! Sorry if I fiLLed your head with more k-no-wledge. I won't try to eXplain a gigadagnabit, weLL, at least I'll wait until the end of the week, that way its a new month as weLL.
My other cool recent toy is a vacuum gauge capable of measuring pressure down to one micron, which is about one millionth of typical atmospheric pressure. (ActuaLLy one part in 760,000 to be eXact) My vacuum pump only goes down to about 35 microns.
Post a Comment