What we can measure with a String and a Stone . . . . tov

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What we can measure with a string and a stone

Home > To measure how far the Sun is from us > Measure with a string and a stone

B.1. What we can measure with a string and a stone

        B.1.1. We can measure lengths.
       B.1.2. We can measure angles
        B.1.3. We can measure Time

B.1.1. We can measure lengths.

Take a one-meter length of string and use it as your measuring instrument. You can divide it into one hundred equal parts and use it to measure length in centimeters.

B.1.2. We can measure angles

Fig 1

We can make an angle dangle meter :: Measuring Angles.
i) Take a piece of string about a meter long. Tie two small stones at each end.

ii) Take a rectangular piece of stiff cardboard. Make a notch in one edge, near the middle. Hang the string from the notch so that the two stones dangle on either side of the card. This is your angle-dangle meter, or Hangle - meter.

iii) At the notch, draw the perpendicular NM (Fig-1)

iv) To measure the angle of a star, or the angle of the top of a distant tower, hold A near to the eye, and hold the cardboard on that A,B and the star are all in a straight line, along the line of sight. (Fig. 2)

v) In this position, the stone on the string hangs down NX. Measure the angle XNM.
This is the angle of the star with the horizontal.

B.1.3. We can measure Time

We can construct a one second pendulum with a one meter string with a stone. A one meter pendulum takes about one second swing from one side to the other. (Fig.3)

We measure the universe by measuring angles, lengths, and time intervals. That's all.
That's how simple it is.
Of course, we will need a few more commonly available things, like paper, cardboard, pocket mirror etc. We need the pocket mirror to construct a high power solar observatory.