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edu/~pa/sliderules/
Peter Alfeld, --- Department of Mathematics, --- College of Science --- University of Utah
There are many pages about slide rules on the web, and you can still buy brand new slide rules (40 years old but never used, and still in their
factory supplied box) in various places. The purpose of this particular and quite idiosyncratic slide rule page is to describe common scales
used on slide rules, and the kind of mathematical expressions that could be evaluated with those scales.
A subsidiary of this page describes a software package that let's you enter an expression and will tell you how that expression can be evaluated
with a slide rule. If you are looking for that software go here.
The two images on this page show the two sides of a particular slide rule in my collection. This may be one of the fanciest and perhaps most
beautiful slide rules ever made, a Faber Castell Novo Biplex 2/83 N. It's made of plastic, and has 30 scales and 11 cursor marks. The rule is
about 13.5 inches long and 2.25 inches wide. You can click on the pictures and see an enlarged image, but that doesn't come close to holding
the real thing in your hands. It feels heavy and solid. The slide and cursor move with silky smoothness and yet they stay in place wherever you
let go of them. The lettering is crisp and detailed, and pristine! No space is wasted, but the information is not crowded either. Every scale has a
purpose.
German made slide rules of that time (the late 1960s) usually come with an accessory plastic ruler. This particular slide rule has a ruler (not
shown) that lists common formulas and physical data on one side. Those may be useful for slide rule calculations. However, the other side of
that ruler has a detailed list and explanation of common notations in set theory! This is about as useless for slide rule calculations as a list of
large mammals. Apparently this slide rule was made when the "new math" was at its zenith and Faber Castell wanted its share of the action.
[Jeff Weiner brought to my attention that actually there are some slide rules that can add and subtract, specifically the Pickett Microline 115
and the Pickett 901 rules.]
A slide rule consists of three parts: the body, the slide, and the cursor. The body and the slide are marked with scales. The cursor has a
hairline that facilitates accurate positioning of the cursor at a specific point on some scale. There may be other marks on the cursor that are
used for specific and special purposes.
Basic Multiplication
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The most basic procedure carried out on a slide rule is the multiplication of two numbers u and v using the C and D scales. These two scales
are identical. C is on the slide, and D is on the body. Move the hairline over u on the D scale. Move the slide so that its beginning (marked by
1 on the C scale, and also called the index of the C scale) lines up with the hairline. Move the hairline to the number v on the C scale. Read
the result underneath the hairline on the D scale. If the number v projects beyond the end of the slide rule move the end of the slide rule
(marked with 10 on the C scale) above u and read the result as before on the D scale underneath the number v on the C scale.
Why?
Why does this work? The C and D scales show a number x that equals the exponential of the distance of x from the beginning of the C or D
scale. So basically you are adding the logarithms of the numbers u and v, and the logarithm of the product equals the sum of the logarithms.
This is the fundamental identity underlying all slide rule calculations, and it is worth stating prominently:
It's convenient to think of the logarithm as the common (base 10) logarithm, and the length of the slide rule as one unit, but you can also think
of log meaning the natural logarithm, and the length of the slide rule being log(10) units.
The multiplication of two numbers exhibits two important properties of slide rule calculations:
1. The real number line is infinite and slide rules have finite length. Hence all scales can only show a part of the real number line. On the
C and D scales, any number x is shown as a number between 1 and 10, and it is determined only up to a factor that is an integer power
of 10. In other words your slide rule does not usually show the location of the decimal point. You are supposed to understand your
problem well enough so you can tell where to put it. The slide rule also does not tell you the sign of your result.
2. Compared to a calculator, a slide rule is severely limited in its accuracy. You can enter and read a number typically to two or three
decimal digits only.
Scales
All other scales on a slide rule are referenced to the C and D scales. Following is a list of scales commonly found on slide rules. For each scale
we list the name (like C), the function underlying it (like ), and some explanations or comments.
CF,
CF is on the slide, DF on the body.
DF
CIF,
CIF is on the slide, DIF on the body.
DIF
May come with subscripts to distinguish and , and have a prime attached to
R, W
distinguish location on the body or slide. These scales are labeled R (Root) or W (Wurzel). The
radical symbol may also be used.
This is one of the scales that show the decimal point. Usually there are several scales, like
LL, E or
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What Can You Do With A Slide Rule? https://www.math.utah.edu/~pa/sliderules/
and
.
The only scale on a slide rule that has a constant increment. Usually on the slide. If there was
L
one such scale on the slide and one on the body they could be used for the addition of numbers.
Lists the angle for which of . On slide rules, all angles are
measured in degrees, and reside in the interval . The scale usually lists both
,
S and , using the identity
showing the angle (in degrees) in the unit circle for an arc of length where is in the
ST interval . For such small arcs, within the accuracy of a slide rule, the angle
(measured in radians), the sine, and the tangent are all equal.
for in the interval . There may be another scale for in and the two
H
scales may be distinguished by subscripts.
is the inverse of the hyperbolic sine. is in the interval If a scale is present for
Sh
in the scales may be distinguished by subscripts.
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One Variable
The power of a slide rule stems from the interplay of the scales and the movements of the slide and the cursor. However, even if your slide
was lined up with the scales on the body, but otherwise frozen in place, you could use your slide rule as a lookup table for a large number of
formulas. Some of them are listed in Tables 2 and 3. For example, if you wish to compute the expression move the hairline over
More generally, if you choose a number on a scale corresponding to the function (as listed in Table 1), and you read the corresponding
where is the inverse function of . The rows of tables 2 and 3 correspond to , and the columns to .
Note that is not the number under the hairline on the C scale, unless you choose to start on that scale!
CD
CDI
CDF
CDIF
AB
LL
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What Can You Do With A Slide Rule? https://www.math.utah.edu/~pa/sliderules/
CD
CDI
CDF
CDIF
AB
LL
There are some caveats about reading Tables 2 and 3. For example, may have to be in a certain interval, and the tables do not distinguish
between different versions of the same scale, e.g., the various LL scales. For the S scale, we only consider the inverse sine function, not the
inverse cosine function. So before you use your slide rule as suggested in the tables you'll have to think carefully about what you are doing,
which never hurts anyway. The typesetting of some of those formulas is a bit idiosyncratic. They were mostly machine generated, and I did
not want to introduce additional errors by excessive manual editing.
As the tables clearly indicate, if you move the hairline over any number on any scale at all, and read the number on the same scale right under
the hairline, you'll get that very same number back!
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Two Variables
Of course the number of possibilities is vastly increased by allowing the slide to move. We consider two procedures, PLUS and MINUS,
involving scales 1, 2, and 3. Scales 1 and 3 are on the body, scale 2 is on the slide.
PLUS: Select u on scale 1 (on the body), align it with the index of scale 2 (on the slide), move the hairline to v on scale 2, and read the result
on scale 3 (on the body), underneath the hairline. For example if the scales involved are D, C, and D, the result would be the product, uv.
MINUS: Select u on scale 1, align it with v on scale 2 on the slide, move the hairline to the index of scale 2, and read the result on scale 3 on
the body, underneath the hairline. For example, if the scales involved are again D, C, and D, the result is the quotient, .
What happens if we use other scales? Assuming a (very hypothetical) slide rule that has all the scales listed above both on the body and on the
slide, these two procedures let you evaluate 3,540 different expressions in 4,394 different ways. Six examples are given in Table 4. Click here
to see a similarly organized pdf file (of several hundred pages) showing all the possibilities.
In general, if is the function corresponding to scale 1 (again, as listed in Table 1), the function corresponding to scale 2, and the
function corresponding to scale 3, then the result that you read on scale 3 is
where the base of the logarithm is the length of the slide rule and exp is the inverse function of log. The symbol indicates whether to use
2 15 2 1 CD CD CD -
3 2403 1803 1 LL CD LL +
4 139 26 2 CD CDI H +
5 287 83 1 CD AB W -
6 424 168 1 CD LL S -
The first three rows of Table 4 show the most common operations on a slide rule: product, quotient, and power.
The last three rows show less common formulas that can be evaluated. Thus, according to the fourth row, to compute follow
the PLUS procedure with scales 1, 2, and 3 being D, CI, and H, respectively. The first number in that row, 139, indicates the entry in the pdf
table, 26 means it is the 26th distinct formula in the table, and 2 means it's the second way to evaluate this particular formula. These numbers
are not important for the example, but they illustrate the organization of the pdf table. Caveats apply even more so than to the one variable
Table 2 and 3 above. The variables have to be in certain ranges, and you may have to be judicious about which variant of the relevant scale
you use to read your result.
Of course, slide rule manuals do not list thousands of formulas. They describe basic principles and then people can figure out how to use slide
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rules to best advantage for their particular applications. There are more pedestrian ways to compute but if you have to evaluate
such expressions many times you'll find the shortcut eventually. Once you have it you can impress your friends and coworkers!
The last example in Table 4 requires an LL scale on the slide. When I went to high school our work horse slide rule was the Aristo Scholar
903. One version of it has a body and cursor with one side, but a slide with two sides. The back of the slide shows several LL scales. So prior
to doing this calculation you need to turn the slide around. This gives you a very strange slide rule without a C scale. For years I have
wondered for what kind of application one would want to turn the slide on the Aristo Scholar, and after writing this web page I know!
Three Variables
Suppose we consider a variant of the PLUS procedure where instead of the index we use a number on a fourth scale. Thus we start again by
putting the hairline above the number u on scale 1. Then we move the number v on scale 2 underneath the hairline. Next we move the hairline
above the number w on scale 3. Finally we read the result on scale 4 underneath the hairline. Scales 1 and 4 are on the body, scales 2 and 3 on
the slide. If the scales are D, C, C, D respectively, the answer is uw/v.
With the 13 scales assumed here, there are 24,314 distinct such expressions, filling 2,143 printed pages that you can view or download here.
The four columns following the mathematical expression give the scales 1, 2, 3, and 4 being used.
Quadratic Equations
As discussed above, one thing slide rules can do that calculators can't is create tables. Here is an intriguing application of that idea that I found
in the Post Versalog Slide Rule Instructions, Frederick Post Company, 1963. That readable little book describes very many applications of
slide rules.
Let's assume that is positive, and the roots are real. If is negative we ignore that fact and worry about the signs of the solutions later. As
an exercise you may want to figure out what happens when the roots of the quadratic equation are complex. If the solutions are and we
have
So we want to find two numbers and that add to and multiply to . We move the hairline over on the D scale, and place the
beginning or end of the slide under the hairline (choosing whichever causes the smaller projection of the slide beyond the body). Now the
product of any pair of numbers on the D and CI scales (or on the DF and CIF scales) is equal to . Your slide rule now contains a table of
pairs of numbers that all have the same product. All that's left to do is to move the hairline until we find a pair of numbers on the D and CI
scales (or DF and CIF scales) that add to . Computing the sums mentally as we move the hairline is a pleasant exercise that requires no
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external help. Once we have the pair of numbers we can figure out the sign of the roots from the signs of and .
Cursor Marks
Many slide rules have special purpose marks on the cursors, in addition to the hairline. As an illustration, here is a list of calculations that can
be accomplished with the cursor marks on the Faber Castell Slide Rule pictured above.
Put the hairline over the diameter of a circle on scale D or C and read the area of the circle under a special mark on scale A or B.
The same marks can be used with the CI scale to compute the volumes of cylinders.
Two marks facilitate instant conversion of kW and hp (PS) on the scales C and D.
To multiply a number with 3.6 (and an integer power of 10) put the hairline over it on the C or D scale, and read the result under a
special mark on the CF or DF scale. Of course, reversing that procedure let's you divide by 3.6.
Pickett N4 2 33 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 8 1 1 2 1 2 1 9
Aristo
Hyperlog 2 31 6 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1
0972
Faber
Castell
2 30 11 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2,2 1 8 1 1 2 1 1 1,2
Novo-Biplex
2/83 N
Pickett
2 28 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 8 1 1 1 1 6,7
N803
Aristo
MultiLog 2 24 6 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 1 1 1 1
0970
Aristo
2 23 6 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 1 1 2 1 1
Studio
Post
2 23 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 8 1 1 1 1
Versalog
Faber
1,
Castell 2 22 7 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 4
1
52/82
Pickett
2 22 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 1 1 1 1 8
N600
Aristo
1,
Scholar 1.5 15 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 3,4
1
0903 LL
Faber
Castell 1.5 14 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 3,4,10
111/54
Faber
Castell 1.5 14 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1,1 2 1 10
57/89
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Pickett
Electronic 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 13
N-515
Aristo
Scholar 1 10 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0903
Pickett
Trig
1 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12
Projection
Rule
Pickett
Microline 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11
120
Faber
Castell
1 7 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5
Mentor
52/80
Pickett
Microline 1 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
160
Notes:
Home Work
I'm employed by an institution of higher learning, and I feel compelled to assign some home work problems:
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