New inventions

evilauthor wrote:

Expert snuggler wrote:We've read a lot about standardizing length measurements. I can't remember textev about weight standards but if they're making explosives they probably have it down.

Exactly. Standardizing weights (and everything else) would be happening besides standardizing lengths. If you're doing one, you'd almost have to do the rest almost by default.

I figured there was some weight standardization but nothing on it had been specifically mentioned. Back in the 1600's they had standards for length and weight but precise is not a term I would use for either. Also a simple balancing beam, which has been used through the centuries is one thing. Converting that to a graduated off set beam for weighing really large weights is a totally different kettle of fish.

The subject matter asked for invention ideas and because scales hadn't been directly mentioned I figured it would be cool to add to the list.

Jeroswen wrote:I figured there was some weight standardization but nothing on it had been specifically mentioned. Back in the 1600's they had standards for length and weight but precise is not a term I would use for either. Also a simple balancing beam, which has been used through the centuries is one thing. Converting that to a graduated off set beam for weighing really large weights is a totally different kettle of fish.

The subject matter asked for invention ideas and because scales hadn't been directly mentioned I figured it would be cool to add to the list.

If you have standardized lengths and material quality down (two things the text has explicitly mentioned that Charis has been standardizing), standardized weights can't be far behind if they aren't developed in lockstep with the first two.

Simply put, a "pound" or other weight measurement can be defined as X material of Y dimensions. Since X and Y will be standardized, the resulting "pound" will also be standardized.

Frankly, I honestly can't imagine how Charis can have standardization mastered to the point of doing truly interchangeable parts without having weights standardized as well. If they couldn't or didn't standardize weight measurements, there's no way they could have the kind of consistency in materials quality that the books showed them as having.

Weight after all is a measure of how much of a material you have. And things like metallurgy and chemistry depend on knowing how much of each ingredient you're using.