Chainomatic Balance
name: label: maker
content: Christian Becker, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: Analytical balance with a wood frame with glass sides and drawer in the base. The inscription reads “Christian Becker, Inc. New York, N.Y. Made in U.S.A., Serial no. B38979.” The inscription on the white index plate reads “CHAINOMATIC / CHRISTIAN BECKER, INC. / NEW YORK."
label: Description
content: By using a chain weight instead of several small weights, the Chainomatic design permitted rapid weighing. Christian Becker’s son, Christopher A. Becker, did not invent the form, but he did obtain a U.S. patent in 1916, and receive the Edward Longstreth Medal of Merit from the Franklin Institute in 1917.
label: Description
content: Ref: C. A. Becker, “Weighing Scale,” U.S. Patent 1,203,686 (Nov. 7, 1916).
label: Description
content: Arthur H. Thomas, <i>Laboratory Apparatus and Reagents</i> (Philadelphia, 1921), p. 56.
label: Description
content: John T. Stock, “Victor Serrin and the Origins of the Chainomatic Balance,” <i>Bulletin of the History of Chemistry</i> 3 (1990): 12-15.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: Subject
content: Weights & Measures
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Washington Navy Yard Annex
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CH.328866
label: catalog number
content: 328866
label: accession number
content: 279423
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Balance
label: Object Name
content: Analytical Balance
label: Object Type
content: Balances
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: circular level: 12 mm; x 1/2 in
label: Measurements
content: column: 51 mm x 16 mm; 2 in x 5/8 in
label: Measurements
content: beam: 35.5 cm; 14 in
label: Measurements
content: each pan: 20.3 cm; x 8 in
label: Measurements
content: bow: 43 cm; 16 15/16 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 73.5 cm x 76 cm x 39.3 cm; 28 15/16 in x 29 15/16 in x 15 1/2 in