Japanese Folding Scale Rule
date: label: date made
content: before 1876
notes: label: Description
content: This metal rule unfolds to a length of 14-7/8" (38 cm). One side is divided into ten units of 1-1/2" (3.7 cm). The units are subdivided into 20 parts. The hinge is shaped like a protractor. It is divided unevenly into five units marked with Japanese characters that have not been translated. From the right, the divisions are at approximately 10°, 30°, 60°, 90°, and 135°.
label: Description
content: The other side has a scale 30.3 cm long that is divided into ten <i>sun</i>, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a <i>shaku</i>, a "foot" measure. Each unit is 1-3/16" and is subdivided into 20 parts.
label: Description
content: The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this rule at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. It then was held by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education before transfer to the Smithsonian in 1910. For more information, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Japan
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Expositions and Fairs
label: Subject
content: Rule, Measuring
label: Subject
content: Protractor
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: Scale Rules
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.261294
label: catalog number
content: 261294
label: accession number
content: 51116
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rule, folding
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .2 cm x 19.8 cm x 1.8 cm; 3/32 in x 7 25/32 in x 23/32 in