Weighing pan
A weighing pan is an instrument or tool used for weighing. It can be a container to hold the mass to be weighed. The weighing pan must be tared in order to be able to determine the actual weight (without weighing the weighing pan as such). The bowls can have different shapes: either as a flat bowl-like receptacle or as a smooth surface.
Weighing pans are either hung up or placed on top, depending on the design. The weight of the weighing pan corresponds to the tare (= gross minus net), unless other containers are added to hold the actual items to be weighed. Weighing pans are essential when using beam scales . The goods to be weighed are placed in one bowl and counterweights of known mass are placed in the other bowl. The balance is balanced when the masses in both bowls (or the torques for beam balances with arms of unequal length) are the same. If you misjudge the counterweights, then the other arm of the balance scale falls to the maximum as far as it will go.
The scales are a symbol of the justice of justice ; she is often depicted with Justitia and a sword. It should be shown that it weighs conflicting interests of the plaintiff and the defendant. However, this balance is often not shown to show the dynamics.
Phrase
There is the German phrase "throw something into the scales". This puts an argument on a balance scale to find out whether a pro or contra argument weighs heavier.
“Throwing his sword into the scales” goes back to a report by Livy about the Gaul king Brennus , who, when the defeated Romans resisted to weigh the imposed war contribution according to the heavy weights of the enemy, also threw his sword into the scales with a sneer and exclaimed:
- “Woe to the vanquished!” (“ Vae victis !”).
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Waagschale , Duden, accessed October 4, 2019