What is a slide rule on a watch?
The slide rule typically consists of two circular scales, an outer and an inner scale, each marked with a series of numbers, usually from 1 to 60. The numbers on the outer scale typically represent time, while the inner scale may represent various units like miles, kilometres, or nautical miles. Slide rules are now mainly found in museums and collections, as their practical use has been replaced by modern electronic calculators and computer software.Some slide rules were manufactured by the millions, while others were only made in short runs or for a short period of time. Some had such peculiar and limited applications that only a few were ever manufactured or sold. Rarer rules are generally considered to have a higher value than more commonplace ones.As mentioned before, the slide rule is a calculator. By using various scales, a sliding central piece, and a cursor (the outermost sliding piece with a vertical red line), the user can multiply, divide, find cubes, cube roots, squares, square roots, sines, cosines, tangents, reciprocals, logarithms and exponents!As I mentioned at the top of this page, there are some types of slide rules still being produced today. The only maker that still produces classic slide rules is the Japanese maker Concise. You’ll find more information about their current circular slide rule offerings at their website.
What is the best slide rule?
FABER-CASTELL 2/83N slide rule is considered by some to be the finest and most beautiful slide rule ever made. OTIS KING, a London engineer, wrapped several feet of scales around a pocket-size cylinder in 1921 to achieve a portable slide rule with impressive resolution. FABER-CASTELL 2/83N slide rule is considered by some to be the finest and most beautiful slide rule ever made.Before the advent of the handheld calculator, engineering students used slide rules throughout their education and careers. My dad was an engineer, and I have his slide rule,” says Matthews. As innovation marched on, the calculator took hold, and the slide rule grew largely obsolete.The slide rule was invented by William Oughtred in the 1600’s, but only began to be widely used in the mid 1800’s after a French artillery officer named Amedee Mannheim developed a version that became popular among engineers. By the early 1900’s engineering students in the US were commonly taught to use slide rules.The most complex slide rule was the multi-colored Novo Duplex 2/83N. When electronic calculators first appeared, they tried manufacuring a hybrid slide rule with a four function calculator on the back side (the TR-1).
What device replaced the slide rule?
Slide Rules were the pre-eminent calculating tool from their invention in around 1620, right through to their demise in the late 1980s, some 350 years later, but their decline really started in the 1960s with the advent of electronic calculators and computers, . About 1622, William Oughtred (Figure 1, right), an Anglican Minister, today recognized as the inventor of the slide rule in its actual form, by placing two such scales side by side and sliding them to read the distance relationships, thus multiplying and dividing directly.Last slide rule manufactured, July 11, 1976. William Oughtred, as well as others, developed the slide rule in the 17th century based on the emerging work on logarithms by John Napier.It is a fully-functional Mannheim-style wooden slide rule. The actual length is 352 ft but slide rules are traditionally measured by the length of their scale (the same as rulers).
What has replaced the slide rule?
The slide rule was universally used for nearly 400 years and was the most commonly used calculation tool in science and engineering until it was replaced by the pocket calculator. The slide rule remained an essential tool in science and engineering and was widely used in business and industry until it was superseded by the portable electronic calculator late in the 20th century.What were the limitations of slide rules in comparison to digital computers? Slide rules were limited to mathematical calculations and lacked the ability to store or process data, unlike modern computers with vast capabilities.Slide rules can be used for multiplication and division, squares, cubes, square roots, cubes roots, trig functions, and exponentials and logarithms. For purposes of the 49er’s slide rule competition, you only need to know how to use the slide rule to do multiplication, division, and square and cube roots.Simple slide rules will have a C and D scale for multiplication and division, most likely an A and B for squares and square roots, and possibly CI and K for reciprocals and cubes. In the early days of slide rules few scales were provided and no labelling was necessary.
Does anyone use a slide rule anymore?
Slide rules are still commonly used in aviation, particularly for smaller planes. They are being replaced only by integrated, special purpose and expensive flight computers, and not general-purpose calculators. In its simplest form, the slide rule adds and subtracts lengths in order to calculate a total distance. But slide rules can also handle multiplication and division, find square roots, and do other sophisticated calculations.Abacuses mainly deal with addition and subtraction, and there are techniques to use them for multiplication and division. Slide rules can be used for multiplication (as can be seen above), and by sliding a slat in reverse, division.