Square Prism, Ross Solid
date: label: date made
content: ca 1895
name: label: maker
content: Ross, W. W.
notes: label: Description
content: This is one of a series of models illustrating the volume of solids designed by William Wallace Ross, a school superintendent and mathematics teacher in Fremont, Ohio. It is a wooden square prism with a base of 1 inch by 1 inch and a height of 3 inches. The object has no maker’s label.
label: Description
content: Ross took the fundamental unit of measure of rectangles to be one square inch, and the fundamental unit of measure for solids to be one cubic inch. He argued from there that a 1 inch x 6 inch rectangle had an area of 6 square inches (see 1985.0112.191). Similarly, this solid model consisted of 3 cubic inches. He would go on to consider several square prisms lined up end to end, and may have intended for this to be one of them. See 1985.0112.206 for two closely related models. These are also shown in the photograph.
label: Description
content: Compare models 1985.0112.205 through 2012.0112.217.
label: Description
content: For further information about Ross models, including references, see 1985.0112.190.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Ohio, Fremont
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Arithmetic Teaching
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Wesleyan University
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0112.207
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0112.207
label: accession number
content: 1985.0112
objectType: label: Object Name
content: geometric model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2.5 cm x 7.5 cm x 2.5 cm; 31/32 in x 2 15/16 in x 31/32 in