Yet another virtual slide rule explanation gallery index back to antiquark copyright 2005 derek ross. Description of slide rule the slide rule consists of three parts see figure 1. The slide rule explorer users guide by peter alfeld, department of mathematics, university of utah. You can enter and read a number typically to two or three decimal digits only. The first circular slide rule on this link uses a cd case as the basis for the slide rule. If the owner changes, the owners manual shall be brought to the attention of the new owner. My copy includes only prefaces to the 21st 1938 and 23rd 1942 editions.
B is the body of the rule and carries three scales marked a, d and k. Constructing and understanding new and old scales on slide. Slide rules home page instructions manuals contents preface to the beginner instructions for use multiplication and division c and d scales division. An easy introduction to the slide rule internet archive. This book has everything from the design and construction of rules to fold out illustrations, detailed scale explanations and instructions, plus tables, trig functions. This page gives my own templates see below for constructing a circular slide rule, with scales c, ci, d, a, and k. The slide rule explorer sre lets you explore more than 100,000 mathematical expressions that can be evaluated on a slide rule. The appeal of slide rules for use and as collectables.
I taught evening classes in solid state circuit design at our local. Scientific american may 2006 university of vermont. It is a simple manual, but very adequate and covers the scales on both the virtual slide rule linked above and the pdf slide rule i built. The sterling precision slide rule, with the instruction sheet shown here, was issued to the u. Npr ed before the smartphone, the laptop and the pocket calculator, there was a. In this manual such theory has deliberately been kept to a minimum. To someone who doesnt know how to use it, a slide rule looks like a ruler designed by picasso. Isrm will be more motivated to scan a manual if someone is looking for it, so email with requests.
Ron manleys slide rule site take the instructions link. A manual for a good vintage slide rule about 100 pages. Many satisfied users of the 283 n slide rule, in a sprit of constructive criticism, have suggested that the arrangement of the scales on the front and back should. Next, find the smaller number on the d scale and slide the c scale so the 1 on the far left lines up with the smaller number. As the name implies, the k12 prep rule was designed for high school students, and the manual is therefore directed toward someone with a high school understanding of math. There was a time when electronic calculators did not yet exist. The ns manual formerly ns information sciences institute. It is unfortunate that, for some reasons not easy to see, the slide rule is sometimes regarded as a difficult instrument with which to become proficient. This did not stop us from doing complicated things, like going to the moon, figuring out the double helix, or designing the boeing 747. Basic slide rule operation for scientists and engineers 10. High school unified manual 20192020 national speech.
Slide rule a quality instrument for sterling student or professional operating instructions a complete course in use and operation of slide rule the sterling student slide rule is an accurate instrument for use in multiplication, division, proportion, square and cube root problems, as well as sine, tangent and logar ithm solutions. The same principle is used for manual computation, but by using numerical logarithmic tables. The dual slide rule has scales as shown in the image. The text does not dwell on the logarithmic basis of slide rule construction. A complete slide rule manual neville w young 11 3 fig 1 example 1. The site has instruction manuals for a number of slide rules. Applicable to all log log duplex decitrig models, including 4081, 4181, 68 1210, 68 1215. Published in 1961, it has a much more modern appearance and writing style than earlier manuals. The scales ad are labeled on the lefthand side of the slide rule.
My slide rules this gallery is in the process of some updating, as many of the scans are from the 1990s, when my way of taking pictures was to put the slide rule on a flatbed scanner and hope it came out reasonably clearly. For this you will need version 4 of the adobe acrobat reader. Slide rule calculations as a pleasure when you use the slide rule you are not so much calculating as just treading, for all you. Faber castell 283n and 6283n instructions in english. In a separate calculation you find the order of magnitude by combining the powers of 10. It is a very good example on how the divisions of the slide rule scales are calculated. The slide rule a practical manual, pickworth, 24th edition 1950 this book was originally published in 1900 or 1903, depending on your reference source. The slide rule depicted inside the manual is dietzgens national, model 1767, and the manual was received with 1988.
Slide rule was invented by english minister william oughtred in 1622. Complete introduction to the operation of the slide rule, and problem solving techniques. Compared to a calculator, a slide rule is severely limited in its accuracy. The slide rule and other instruments which give the same facilities for rapid calculations, are covered by the term mechanical calculation. Nestler instructions covering a range of scales in french. Additionally, the slide rule does not tell you where the decimal point is located in the answer. If you would like to contribute toward the continued archiving of these materials. A small manual of instruction exemphfying the utility of this form of slide rule has long been in request, not only by those who experience some difficulty in.
All drawings in this slide owners manual figures 1 through 5 are for illustration purposes only and are not to scale. Some donors have provided these booklets and other paper items, such as advertising flyers, directions for cleaning slide rules, warranty certificates, and. All this, while still looking slick and fashionable. Some of them relate to standard rules thornton, faber castell 283n and would be useful whatever rule you have but others are for specialised rules.
It gives an excellent overview as to the background and use of the slide rule. The slide rule the book, written by florian cajori, is the standard work on the early history of the slide rule. The metal window is inserted over the slide rule to act as a place holder. Send me an email if you want a pdf file of a partial 10 pages copy of the instruction manual. I believe we were the last class to be issued slide rules because of the advent of electronic calculators. The slide rule, a practical manual, 18th edition 1927 by c. Located on the slide, most calculations are done in conjunction with the fundamental cd scales.
M75 teledyne post versalog ii slide rule instruction manual and applied text 1970 for the teledyne post model 1460 versalog ii. Dietzgen instruction manual for maniphase slide rule description the citation information for this sixteenpage booklet is. Please keep this manual as it contains important information. Special compensation, chapter 2 compensation for disability and death. The standard manual of the slide rule 2nd edition, revised and enlarged. The slide rule, a practical manual, 22nd edition 1941 by c. Submit suggestions for rule additions, deletions, or changes to the rules. You enter an expression and then click on find to identify slide rule procedures that will evaluate that expression. At any rate, by 1950 it had acquired 24 editions and numerous printings. Many of the more useful and comprehensive manuals have been converted to pdf format.
Do you have a proposed change to the unified manual. A cursor is fixed in the center of the window to allow for accurate readings. It is the purpose of this manual to explain the operation in such a way that a person who has never before used a slide rule may teach himself to do so. Unfortunately on both counts, neither quite lives up to former hemmi standards. Slide rule universe take the learn to use and clean them link. On 6inch slide rules these graduations have no numerals beside them. A standard manual for circular slide rules, direct from concise in the fall, 2002. David crates quality slide rules slide rule manuals.
Nmah trade literature collection, smithsonian institution libraries. Slide rule contains a plethora of features, some never seen before in this type of application. Assembly instructions hairline cursor slider title. Sphere s slide rule site provides information about slide rules.
Buy the complete manual set here this advertisement appeared in the august 1967 edition of electronics world magazine. Subsequent owners the owners manual must remain with the owner of the slide. British slide rule company technical standard slide rule british slide rule company technical aeronautical slide rule go back to top b. Mathematical foundations of the slide rule joseph pasquale department of computer science and engineering university of california, san diego june 26, 2011 abstract we present a mathematical principle that provides a precise formulation for the types of functions a slide rule can be designed to calculate. As graphical analog calculators, slide rules are closely related to nomograms, but the former are used for general calculations, whereas the latter are used for applicationspecific computations the slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for functions. Fowlers magnum long scale calculator made in england circular slide rule. The slide rule also does not tell you the sign of your result. Also because of all the detail, the 30loop spiral slide rule converts to a lowrez bitmap data image while you move it, then back to a vector based image as soon as you release. Perhaps more importantly, my class of 1980 was the first class to have women.
Right now i am talking with a friend who studied electronics just a couple of years after electronic calculators unceremoniously drove slide rules from the engineering scene. This manual is identical to the 1939 except that the illustration changed and there is a note on using the srt scale instead of the st scale. Slide rule library main desk archive of books, manuals, instructions and ephemera. It is assumed that the theory of exponents, of logarithms, of trigonometry, and of the slide rule. The following was written in 1999 by jason waskiewicz. Bissaker slide rule 1654 circular slide rule king pocket calculator 66 sclales thacher calculator 30 ft.
Slide rule library post international slide rule museum. Analon engineeringscience analysis slide rule michael p. The single slide rule is designed for beginner, consisting of k, a, b, ci, c and d scales only. Rationale for the pilot methods can be found online here. To do a calculation with a slide rule you reduce all numbers to scientific notation with 24 digits then use the slide rule to perform the basic operations. Only in moses lake will you find washington states premier outdoor aquatic center. Weinbach this manual is a supplement to the 408 manual to cover the 40833 slide rule. Knowing how to do the manual calculations on a slide rule is a desirable skill to have, just in case there is a problem one day. Mathematical foundations of the slide rule with ack corrected. Henry suttons slide rule top was an early circular rule circa 1663. Because of all the detail, it looks best and runs best on a largeformat machine such as a tablet.
This rule has special scales for handling dimensions, units. Frederick post company chicago, illinois 512 x 812, hardbound, 114 pages. To use a slide rule to multiply 2 numbers together, move the decimal points for each number you are multiplying so they fall between the values of 1 and 10. After a buying or making a slide rule, if the original manual isnt available online many are, theres a superb illustrated tutorial on slide rule use pdf download offered on the oughtred society website see resources. Smyth, 1967 this instruction manual is for the 68 1400 analon slide rule.
It seems to me that no slide rule site would be complete without a section discussing some of the available books on the subject. Rule for estimating steam and water radiation go back to top cthru rules cthru s890 go back to top carid rules carid 3000 go back to top charvozroos rules. A 1930s high school class making electrical calculations on their slide rules. The slide rule, a practical manual, 23rd edition 1942 by c. Surf n slide water park moses lake, wa official website. The ns manual formerly ns notes and documentation1 the vint project a collaboration between researchers at uc berkeley, lbl, uscisi, and xerox parc. Theres also an additional frontandback scan of a separate sheet for the trig scales on the model 300. Ie tertiary marks tertiary marks and the third digit tertiary marks the thin lines in fig. Otis king another classic rule this time cylindrical.
We own pickett slide rule manual pdf, doc, djvu, txt, epub formats. Slide rule instruction manuals here are a few instruction manuals for aw faber faber castell slide rules that i have acquired, most came with slide rules as indicated. Instructions for sterling precision slide rule national. The slide rule, a practical manual, 19th edition 1930 by c.
Mathematics or previous experience is required to follow this manual. There is no way i can give all of that detail in an instructable that has 21 steps plus an introduction. A slide rule can be regarded normally as giving the answer to a calculation to an accuracy of three significant figures although sometimes a. Mannheim slide rule 1850 faber castell 283n nestler 23r mannheim issac newton put 3 scales in parallel in 1675 to compute cubes, and proposed the cursor in 1677, but was ignored. Mannheim slide rule 1850 faber castell 283n nestler 23r mannheim issac newton put 3 scales in parallel in 1675 to compute cubes. You can use these to create any length of slide rule mike. For carrying out slide rule calculations you require little prior mathematical knowledge. If you use a different pdf reader, your procedures should be quite similar. There are at least three different scales, and on most of them the numbers arent even spaced evenly apart. I typed and scanned this in from one of the manuals that came with my n4es slide rule. The slide rule, also known colloquially in the united states as a slipstick, is a mechanical analog computer.
This presentation stresses slide rule solutions with large and small numbers, n. Submit suggestions for rule additions, deletions, or changes. All other scales on a slide rule are referenced to the c and d scales. In those days, when we needed to compute things, we used slide rules which are marvelous and beautiful instruments. On this page, i have decided to list all the books currently in my collection, along with some editorial comments to hopefully help you separate the wheat from the chaff. The main idea of any old or new slide rule is 4 that we write each value x rreal number on a strip at the geometric distance 0 d u fx from the left hand end of the scale s 1 where f is a strictly monotonic function whether increasing or decreasing and. Naval academy class of 1980 as plebes in the summer of 1976. The number of scales on a slide rule vary depending on the number of mathematical functions the slide rule can perform. The pilot district tournament manual can be found online here. The slide rule a practical manual, pickworth, 24th edition 1950. The unique slide rule, leather case, and 4course instruction booklet. A complete slide rule manual neville w young 12 1 chapter 12 tangent t, t1, t2 and st scales it is an advantage to have two tangent scales t1, and t2 on your slide rule, instead of just a single tangent scale t. The oughtred societys slide rule reference manual, besides showing a large selection of slide rules some common and many rare, has an excellent introduction to basic slide rule operation.
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