Make A Barometer

Barometer or thermometer

Chapter 6 in ‘Injustice,’ a novel by Sajiv Bhatla (Crabwise Press), opens by puzzling how the health of an entire nation’s economy is equated with the euphoria, or a lack of it, in the stock markets. The author wonders if the description of stock markets as the barometer of the economy must have been devised by the financial experts of those countries in which the economy had already reached a certain level of stoicism, and the stock markets, a certain level of maturity.

As alternatives, he suggests in his tale that the stock market behaviour is more akin to that of the bubble of air in a spirit-level; and that the market is a thermometer – ‘a fever-measuring device, and that too not of the economy as a whole, but only of a bunch of crazy people who throng the bourses.’

One such person is J, the protagonist, who wants to make money quickly, rather than make big money. “J set about his task in an earnest and what he thought, a careful manner. He bought a number of scrips to constitute his ‘portfolio,’ to minimise the ‘risk-factor.’ His choice fell upon low-priced, neglected scrips – the logic being that from thereon they could only go up.”

As the story unfolds, you find that J’s scrips were indeed going up, as was the entire market, but they were going up slowly. His scheme, as Bhatla outlines, was that when one of the scrips had gone up sufficiently, he would sell it and buy another low-priced scrip that had recently been brought to his attention by the market journals. “He noticed to his consternation that the scrips that he was eyeing so had also begun to move up, some of them slowly, and some other outpacing the ones that he himself possessed in his portfolio. To add to his annoyance some of his own were not moving at all! This made him impatient. This called for some drastic measures…”

A book that can keep you off the keyboard, what with the teji scene-changes that befall J.

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BookPeek.blogspot.

How To Make a Barometer – mercury barometer, bamboo skewer

Atmospheric pressure or the pressure exerted by the weight of air above the earth’s surface is measured by a barometer. A barometer uses mercury, air or water to measure atmospheric pressure. Its invention in mid-sixteenth century was credited to Evangelista Torricelli. A mercury barometer consists of a glass tube about thirty-three inches long filled with mercury. This tube is inverted over a chamber that is also filled with mercury. An aneroid barometer on the other hand uses a sealed chamber with a pointer. It is possible to make an aneroid barometer using things you have in your kitchen. Below are the steps on how to make your own barometer.

Get a glass jar, a squat round can, like a cat food can or a cup with wide mouth. You also need water (optional), an eight to nine-inch long bamboo skewer, a twelve-inch round balloon, rubber bands, glue, tape and scissors, a piece of cardboard and markers. If your canister, can or jar is light and may topple down once the skewer is attached to it, place some water into the container to make it steadier. If your jar is stable and heavy there is no need to add water. Cut the tapering end of the balloon, slightly above the thin and long part of the balloon. Stretch the wide part of the balloon over the jar. The edge of the balloon should reach about halfway down the side of the jar. Skip a rubber band or two over the side of the jar and wrap it tightly around so that the balloon will not be released when pressure builds up and to prevent air from entering the jar. Place glue on the blunt end of the bamboo skewer. Position this at the center of the balloon, which is over the cup. Secure it in place with tape until the glue is completely dry. While waiting for the glue to dry, you can prepare the gauge part of the barometer. Cut the cardboard to about five inches wide and seven inches long. If you are using a printed cardboard cover it with white bond paper. Place the jar on a counter near a wall and position the cardboard on the wall. The pointed end of the bamboo skewer should be pointing to the cardboard. Move the cardboard slightly upward so that its top half is beyond the height of the jar. Tape the cardboard gauge to the wall. Mark the spot where the pointer is located. Take a look at the weather outside and note it on the card beside the mark that you have made. Check your homemade barometer daily.