In the process of its development, humanity has constantly improved its methods of understanding the world. And since the most ancient times, people have been measuring and calculating various qualitative quantities. And the more complex and accurate measurements became, the more measuring instruments were needed. And along with measuring instruments, the concept of "scale" appeared. This is a sign system that displays the value on the instrument in accordance with the measurement. However, first things first.
History of measurements
At the moment, the most ancient measuring device known to scientists is the balance, discovered in Mesopotamia. Their age, according to rough estimates, is about seven thousand years. Their design consisted of cups on a crossbar - and, of course, there was no measuring scale on them. However, these scales were the first timid attempt of mankind to measure and understand the surroundings.peace. What is surprising is that scales of this design were used until the 21st century, they turned out to be so convenient and logical.
The appearance of the first scale of the instrument
Approximately two thousand years BC, the use of sundials began in ancient Egypt. The shadow cast by the obelisk moved along the ground depending on the position of the Sun and pointed to the drawn dial. Of course, there was no need to talk about the accuracy of such watches. Thus, the first measuring scale is the dial of a sundial.
By the way, the ancient Egyptians were the first to divide the dial into two equal twelve-hour segments. And the very idea of dividing an hour into sixty minutes, and a minute into sixty seconds belongs to the Sumerians - and we use the same system to this day. And the first mechanical watch, according to legend, was created only in the X century AD by a monk who later became the Pope.
Other dimensions in the ancient world
The main measurement problem in the ancient world was the inaccuracy of scale divisions or their absence. So, for example, when measuring distances in ancient Rome, fingers, elbows and thousands of steps were used. It is clear that depending on the person, the measurement results were completely different. A similar situation with the extreme inaccuracy of these instrument scales was widespread almost everywhere.
In the Middle Ages, more accurate measures of measurement appeared, but they varied from state to state. Because of this, there werenumerous problems both in exporting and importing goods, it was not clear which measurement system to take as a standard, and this problem had to be solved. However, this became possible only with the development of communication methods such as radio waves, and therefore, the issue of a solution was very long.
Introduction of the metric system of measures
The first steps towards the introduction of a unified system of measurements occurred in France, where, after long and unsuccessful negotiations with other countries, it was decided to introduce a single and, most importantly, a decimal system of measures on their own. In one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the French system of measures was formed, and four years later, at the legislative level, it became uniform in the country. Almost half a century later, the German government adopted the metric system of measures in their country and in the nineteenth century this system became one of the most popular in Europe.
In Russia, however, it was adopted only in the twentieth century, and then, by an optional decree, retaining its old physical values. The final adoption by the whole world of a single system of measurements (SI) occurred only after the Second World War, and at the moment only the United States of America, Liberia and Myanmar use their own systems of calculation. Nevertheless, the scientific world has completely switched to the SI system.
Temperature measurement
Degrees stand out a little from the general list of the unified measurement system. The fact is that the most convenient and widespread Celsius scale was invented back in 1744, forfifty years before the introduction of the metric system in France. It was invented by the Swedish astronomer Anders, whose surname is Celsius. He proposed the most convenient and logical temperature measurement - he took the moment of water turning into ice as a starting point, and took the temperature of its boiling as 100 degrees.
Thus, one degree in his measurement system became one hundredth of the way between the point of ice and the boiling point of water. Since the metric system was also based on the decimal system, the Celsius scale found its place in it as one of the derived units. Derivatives - because the main measuring value is still Kelvin. It happened because Kelvin proposed to consider absolute zero as zero degrees - the temperature below which it simply cannot be - the minimum temperature available to a body in the Universe.
Celsius has an absolute zero of -273 degrees, which is not so convenient for scientists. However, for measuring the degrees of the human body and determining the temperature of the air, degrees Celsius are much better.
Modern changes
Most recently, in 2018, quite important changes were made to the SI system. Many values were untied from physical materials - for example, the kilogram standard is calculated not using a physical alloy, but according to Planck's constant. In the same way, back in the 20th century, the meter was untied from a bar of iron lying in Paris and became an intangible quantity, which is calculated based on the speed of light in a vacuum.
Of course, onthis did not affect the scale divisions of the instruments then and now, but for the scientific world it was an extremely important change, allowing to avoid the slightest inaccuracies that arise when using physical objects as standards. The same fate befell the degrees Kelvin and the mole - they are all untethered from the real world and exist as intangible quantities.
Measuring scales
In order to show the results of measurements - most devices are marked with special symbols. Scale - signs that display the result of physical measurements. Depending on the type of device, it can be of various types. Since the SI system is used in most countries, the prices of the instrument scale divisions are most often displayed in the metric system.
The simplest example is a construction tape measure. The segments marked on it are the roulette scale. Most tape measure you can find in Russia use centimeter scale, however, if you search, you can find tape measure with inch scale, because inches are still used in the United States of America.
Conclusion and conclusions
Now you know what it is - the scale and the division price. It remains only to add that measurements have been carried out by mankind since the most ancient times, and only in recent centuries have they been regulated at the international level. Thus, nowadays people have come to an agreement about the quantities used in measurements - and this allows scientists from all over the world to use the same values,making it easier to work with foreign sources.
Thousands of years have passed from measuring distances with fingers to centimeters, but this was necessary for people. Recently, large-scale changes in the SI system have been carried out, an increasing part of which is being decoupled from physical instruments, such as the alloy of the kilogram, and converted into intangible physical quantities. And the current changes are only part of a larger journey yet to be traveled.
