Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty Chapter 1174 Postscript: There must be a sense of ritual in academic pursuits at the age of thirty
Chapter 1174 Postscript: There must be a sense of ritual in academic pursuits at the age of thirty
Chapter 1174 Postscript 30: There must also be a sense of ritual in academic pursuits
Xie Yancai didn't bother to care whether the scholars in the outer circle could see it clearly.
He just invited the old president to sit down next to him, and then began to explain his balance.
"This is a balance box. The reason why the balance is placed in a glass box is because human breathing can also interfere with the balance. The other is to keep the air dry, firstly to reduce the error of different air humidity, and secondly to prevent the oxidation of the equipment inside.
The small bag contains charcoal, which can absorb water vapor in the air."
Xie Yan didn't know how to refine activated charcoal. He used high-quality ordinary charcoal. It was enough to place one bag on each inside of the bottom plate.
The few words he said shocked the scholars present.
Compared with the previous balances, the one in front of me looks very high-end. It is actually said that human breathing will affect the accuracy, and it actually needs to control the air humidity.
Nie Qi was also crowded in the crowd at this time, and felt a very bad feeling in his heart.
The ultra-long-arm damping balance he developed has no glass cover at all and does not care about the air humidity. This already seems to be a judgment call.
Xie Yan continued:
"The balance box has three doors. The front door opens and is used to install, debug and maintain the balance. The left door opens and is used to place the objects to be weighed. The right door opens and is used to take and place the weights."
"The four feet under the balance box can be adjusted in height at will. When adjusting, you can observe the level of the balance."
"The balance has three agate knives, and the one in contact with the knife edge is an agate plate. The reason why it is made of agate is that the chemical properties of agate are stable and do not easily react with chemical substances; the second is that agate has high hardness and is resistant to wear and tear."
"When the balance is not in use, you can use the knob below to raise and store the agate knife to avoid wear and tear caused by long-term contact between the agate knife and the agate plate. When using the balance, turn on the lifting knob."
"Everyone should already know the devices on these two sides, which are the air dampers of the balance."
After saying that, Xie Yan looked up with a smile, and Nie Qi stood across the table opposite him.
Seeing Xie Yan smiling at him, Nie Qi smiled back, but it was quite forced.
The more Xie Yan introduced the agate balance, the heavier Nie Qi's mood became. His super long-arm balance seemed like an antique.
Xie Yan stood up and pointed behind the balance beam: "This is the center of gravity hammer. It can also be adjusted to change the stability and sensitivity of the balance. When weighing, scholars can adjust the center of gravity hammer according to different needs.
Choose the sensitivity that best suits you."
"On both sides of the balance beam, these two screws can adjust the zero point."
"This is the scale pointer."
"This is a miniature scale with more than a hundred scales. Because it is too small, I asked a micro-engraving craftsman to engrave it. When weighing and reading, it is read through a magnifying glass device."
The reading device that Xie Yan saw in the laboratory was too advanced and seemed to need to be powered on. When he copied it last year, he couldn't make it, so he simply simplified it. Anyway, it is enough for the current stage.
"In this box are weights, all of which are placed in a cotton cover. You cannot use your hands when taking them. You must use tweezers to pick them up. The smallest ones are pieces of weight. I really can't find a metal that is not easy to oxidize and is light in weight, so I can only use extreme weights.
Use small gold foil to make code."
Aluminum sheets should be used.
"There is a ring code above the right end of the balance beam, which is also made of extremely small and fine gold wire. Adjusting the knob on the right hand side can automatically lower the ring code."
"Before weighing, check the reading of the lens and adjust it to zero before use."
"The introduction of the agate short-arm damping balance is completed."
The scholars looked at each other, looking at the scale for a while and then at Xie Yan.
The scholars standing on the periphery listened to Xie Yan's complicated introduction, but could not see what was going on inside. They were already anxious to pull away from the people in front.
“So beautiful!”
Zhu Shirong praised.
This balance not only has a sophisticated structure, but also uses agate, gold wire, gold foil, and even the scales need to be micro-carved. How noble and gorgeous!
Nothing should be touched directly with hands. Xie Yan wore gloves throughout the process and used tweezers to pick up and place the weights. They also had to be kept in a glass cover and kept dry with charcoal. They had to be put away when not in use to prevent wear and tear.
It's like a newborn baby, one can't help but take good care of it.
Such a noble and fragile device will definitely become the treasure of scientists in the future, and no one but yourself can even get close to it.
The old president put on his reading glasses, put his head outside the glass cover, and stared at the various components closely.
Nie Qi was very anxious and his mood was very complicated.
Out of his own selfishness, he hoped that this scale would be good and not as powerful as Xie Yan said.
Out of his original intention as a scientist, he hoped that this balance would really work!
Nie Qi's mind was buzzing and he subconsciously said, "How about weighing something?"
Of course Xie Yan prepared weighing objects, but he always felt that it lacked a sense of ceremony.
Not showy enough!
He turned around and looked around, and found that the eldest princess was also lying on the table, observing various parts of the balance beam.
Xie Yan shouted in a low voice: "Her Royal Highness the eldest princess."
After shouting twice, the eldest princess finally reacted and found that her head was too close, only about one foot away from Xie Yan's face.
She quickly straightened up and distanced herself: "What's wrong?"
Xie Yan said: "Please lend me a strand of black hair, Your Highness."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. They were trying to seduce the eldest princess. Little Bachelor Xie was really brave enough.
Even the old president was stunned. He looked at Xie Yan first, then at the eldest princess, grinning and showing a few remaining old teeth. Old people also like to eat melons and cp, and they have nothing to do anyway.
With.
The eldest princess didn't think much at first, her attention was all on the scale, and her cheeks couldn't help but turn red at the moment. She was a little shy and a little angry because Xie Yan was too harsh in teasing her.
Xie Yan is really not flirting with girls, he just wants to show off.
The world's first high-precision short-arm balance was weighed using a princess's hair when it first appeared. This was so popular that it was a good story in the history of science even a hundred years later.
Full of sense of ceremony!
Seeing the eldest princess staring at him angrily, Xie Yan realized that he was speaking out of his mind, and quickly apologized and said: "I was too abrupt, please forgive me, princess."
Just when Xie Yan was about to open the bag he brought and take out the weighed objects inside, the eldest princess suddenly straightened up.
I saw her taking off pieces of jewelry and placing them next to the balance box, and then took off the gold and jade hairpin. Her head shook slightly, the bun spread out, and a waterfall of hair hung down.
Xie Yan looked dazed.
No, I'm just talking. Princess, are you serious?
The eldest princess asked: "Where are the scissors? You can't let me pull out my hair."
Under the watchful eyes of a group of scholars, Xie Yanzhen took out a pair of small scissors. Some were dumbfounded, while others pursed their lips and suppressed laughter. There were quite a few who were watching the excitement but did not think it was a big deal.
The eldest princess was about to reach out to pick up the scissors. Unexpectedly, Xie Yan had already stood up and directly grabbed a strand of her hair. Not only did he grab the hair, he also twisted it with his fingers, as if he was considering which strands to cut.
Damn it!
The eldest princess was so angry that she wanted to laugh. She had never encountered such a scoundrel since she was a child.
Xie Yan really didn't think about it that much. He was currently considering how many strands to cut and how long to cut them... Hair strands are at the microgram level, and it really can't be weighed without cutting more.
After picking a strand of hair and cutting it off, Xie Yan tied it into a knot, then sat back and opened the balance box, and put the hair into the left tray of the balance.
Then he carefully picked up and placed the weights, adjusted the ring code, and observed the scale. From the beginning to the end, he never even looked at the princess.
It seems that the eldest princess is a tool that can automatically generate objects to be weighed.
The eldest princess was ashamed and angry at first, then she became completely angry, and now she can't even laugh or cry.
If it were her teenage temper, she would have been slapped away.
Forget it, many of these academics are out of their minds.
Xie Yan struggled there for a long time and finally announced the result: "The weight of the hair of the eldest princess is 0.615 millimeters."
The scholars took a breath of cold air, and even the eldest princess stopped worrying about anything else, and her attention completely returned to the scale.
After Xie Yan traveled through time, in addition to having a headache with various symbols, it was the damn weights and measures system of the Ming Dynasty.
Since a large amount of currency has been issued, and metal currency is related to weight, it has been difficult to change it through scientific research. Moreover, Zhu Guoxiang cannot know the weights and measures conversion of two time and space out of thin air, and he cannot change it to modern units even if he wants to.
In the late Northern Song Dynasty, 1 catty = 16 taels = 160 qian = 1,600 cents = 16,000 centimeters = 160,000 cents (1 catty = 625 grams)
Mixing decimal and hexadecimal systems is really not conducive to scientific calculations, so the units below two remained unchanged, and a xuejin was added on top (1 xuejin = 10 taels.)
The weight conversion with another time and space becomes like this: 1 kilogram = 390.625 grams, 1 tael = 39.0625 grams, 1 millimeter = 3.90625 milligrams.
Scientists in the Ming Dynasty would not find it troublesome because they did not need to convert at all, and there were no units of grams and milligrams in their consciousness.
Xie Yan weighed a strand of hair as 0.615 milligrams, but it should actually be 2.40234375 milligrams. The accuracy is definitely impossible to reach so many digits after the decimal point. It is purely a mathematical conversion of two units of time and space.
Xie Yan's balance has a sensitivity of approximately 0.025 mg.
It still did not meet the standards of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. The sensitivity of the analytical balance at that time was 0.001 mg.
Even so, it is enough to amaze current scholars, because this thing is more than enough for studying molecules and atoms.
Xie Yan took out the hair of the eldest princess and stuffed it back into his bag along with the scissors. He wanted to keep it as a family heirloom as a souvenir.
He was also very proud and full of sense of ceremony!
When the eldest princess saw Xie Yan's behavior, she felt ashamed and angry again, and it was inconvenient to ask for it back in public. When she was a girl, she was unruly and willful, but after getting married, she became a pleaser (only to her husband). Although she has now recovered from the unhappy marriage
Even though he came out, his character was still very cautious and tolerant.
Even, some are timid, fearing that they will be disliked by others.
She looked around and found that the scholars were not paying attention to her and were completely attracted by the balance. Then she felt relieved and glared at Xie Yan.
Xie Yan responded with a straight smile.
The old president rubbed his hands repeatedly and praised: "What a good thing."
Xie Yan took the opportunity to express his position: "I was awarded the Bachelor of Jasper at a young age and cannot repay the favor of the Royal Society, so I plan to donate this balance to the Society."
"What a good young man!" The old president had a better impression of Xie Yan.
Other scholars were also overjoyed, and they planned to dismantle and study the scale together, and then spend a lot of money to hire craftsmen to build it for themselves.
Only Nie Qi was in a complicated mood.
He lost so completely that he couldn't hate Xie Yan.
Xie Yan gave up his seat: "Old president, come and try your hand."
The old president smiled and sat over: "Who can get some hair?"
"mine!"
"Use mine!"
"..."
The scholars took off their hats one after another and asked Xie Yan to borrow scissors.
Xie Yan took the opportunity to retreat away from the crowd, stretch and breathe fresh air.
There was always enough space around the eldest princess, because people couldn't get too close to her. But now they didn't care about so many people. The scholars crowded in and made the eldest princess stagger.
She came out with disheveled hair and even forgot to take the jewelry on the table.
But I saw Xie Yan standing alone in the distance, as if the balance on the table had nothing to do with him. How crazy the scholars were at the moment made Xie Yan look majestic.
"You are quite leisurely," said the eldest princess.
Xie Yan said: "Last year was very tiring. From summer to winter, I spent nearly half a year working on the scale. Even my dreams were about rulers and weights."
The eldest princess pursed her lips and smiled: "Give me your hair back."
"Oh, I still want to keep it as a souvenir." Xie Yan sighed and went to dig through his bag.
When he turned his hair out, the eldest princess said again: "Forget it, it's not a valuable thing."
Xie Yan chuckled and tucked his hair back.
The eldest princess asked: "Is your hometown in Hebei?"
Xie Yan replied: "Yes."
The eldest princess said: "Do you know Bachelor Yu Kui from Hebei? He has been a guest in my house before."
Xie Yan shook his head: "I don't know. I don't know much about academia."
The eldest princess smiled and said: "You are really a wild man. Bachelor Yu Kui is the most famous chemist in Hebei. He probably has some personal matters and did not come to Luoyang this time."
Xie Yan took the opportunity to say: "Then you have to ask the princess to help introduce you."
The eldest princess asked again: "You have achieved such success when you were young. In the future, will you focus on academic studies or become an official?"
Xie Yan thought about it carefully: "It's okay, I don't care."
The eldest princess stopped talking, called the maids standing outside, and asked them to get the jewelry placed on the podium.
There were a lot of Tai students lying outside the door and outside the window.
Through the chatter coming out of the room, the Tai students had roughly figured out that Little Bachelor Xie had built an ultra-high-precision balance, which had driven a large group of top scholars inside crazy.
Xie Yan saw that the eldest princess no longer paid attention to him, so he paced outside.
As soon as they left the house, those imperial students gathered around, bowed to Xie Yan and saluted, and greeted with great respect: "Greetings, Bachelor Xie!"
At this moment, the old president had finished the weighing and stood up tremblingly, stroking his beard.
He walked toward the door with a cane. The scholars stepped aside one after another, and two people hurriedly helped him.
Walking in front of Xie Yan, the old president said: "The lack of accuracy of the scale has troubled scholars for thirty or forty years, and His Majesty Taizu's theory cannot be fully verified. On behalf of the scholars all over the world, I would like to express my gratitude to my little friend!"
After saying that, he broke away from his supporter and bowed straightly towards Xie Yan.
Xie Yan was startled and quickly reached out to help him.
If this old gentleman loses his footing and falls down and breaks his body, he won't be able to afford the compensation.
The top scholars inside saw the old president's actions, made eye contact with each other, and bowed to Xie Yan one after another.
The imperial students outside were frightened by this scene.
The eldest princess was pulling up her disheveled hair. She suddenly raised her head and realized that something was wrong. The sight in front of her made her eyes sparkle.