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History of Science Museum

Slide Rule for Chemical Equivalents, by W. Cary, London, 1814

Inventory Number 53233


Acknowledgement: © History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, inv.53233

Item type
Object
Makers
W. Cary
Provenance
Presented by the Radcliffe Trustees
Primary inscriptions
Inscribed: "Published by W. Cary182 Strand Jan 1 1814"
Physical material
Wood
Dimensions
Height: 330mm Width: 65mm Weight: 102g
Inventory No
53233

Description

This rule is based on the scale for chemical equivalents devised by the chemist William H. Wollaston in 1814. They facilitsted calculations in analysis, by allowing the 'practical chemist' to calculate the composition of any weight of any chemical substance ('salts') on the scale, the necessary quantity of another chemical to decompose it, and the quantity of the new compound that would be formed, according to contemporary interpretration of chemical composition. Both John Newman and William Cary were well-known makers of chemical and other apparatus.