B - Break Standard Weight
The balance was the first mass measuring instrument invented. In its traditional form, it consists of a pivoted horizontal lever of equal length arms, called the beam, with a weighing pan, also called scale, suspended from each arm (which is the origin of the originally plural term "scales" for a weighing instrument). The unknown mass is placed in one pan, and standard masses are added to this or the other pan until the beam is as close to equilibrium as possible. The standard weights used with balances are usually labeled in mass units, which are positive integers. wa
