how to weight a heavy object with a small scale?

Question

I'm looking for a practical use of science.

Answer 1

The basic principle is to use leverage. Here's one way off the top of my head (I wish I could draw a diagram):
(1) Hang the object from a rope/cable that runs up through a pulley.
(2) Fix the other end of the rope so that it pulls up on a lever arm.
(3) Make the other end of the lever arm (beyond the lever's pivot point) push down on the scale.
(4) Since you want to effectively reduce the weight pushing on the scale, the length LR of the lever arm between the pivot and the rope will be shorter than the end LS between the pivot and the scale.
(5) The relationship between the weight WO of the object and the weight WS you read on the scale will be: WO = (LS/LR)WS.
(6) This ignores the effects of mechanical imperfections and friction in this apparatus.

Also, I can imagine several other mechanical configurations that would achieve the same thing.

Answer 2

If you had a heavy object and a scale that had a twenty five pound limit you could use a lever and see how much weight was required to move the heavy object.

For instance, if the leverage ratio was ten to one and you put an object on the other end of the lever and that object was just enough to balance and you weighed the lighter object at 20 pounds then you would know that the heavier object weighed 200 pounds.

Answer 3

Small scale does not mean that we cannot weigh heavy object.

Each scale small or big is manufactured to weigh a maximum amount and is usually inscribed in the scale. With in that limit you can weigh heavy object. Heavy object does not also mean that it has a huge volume.

Answer 4

You'll need sand, a small bucket, a big bucket, and a big balance.

Put the heavy object on one end of the balance, and the big bucket on the other. Fill the big bucket with sand until the balance is level. Then scoop out one small bucket full of sand and weight it.

Then the fast way would be count each small bucket full and multiply that by the weight of the first one (adding the weight of any remaining sand not in a full bucket).

Or the slow way which is weight each and every bucket full, recoding its weight and adding it all up.

Answer 5

break it up in to smaller pieces and weigh them individually. Alternatively use archimedes principle. Place the object in water and see how much water is displaced. 1 litre of water at specific gravity 0 = 1 kg.

Answer 6

Use a pulley system. Determine acting forces on each pulley and tension on each segment between pulleys. You will eventually determine the weight of the object.

Answer 7

Try a bigger scale. (I don't know)