Slide chart

A slide chart is a hand-held device, usually of paper, cardboard, or plastic, for conducting simple calculations or looking up information. A circular slide chart is sometimes referred to as a wheel chart or volvelle.

Unlike other hand-held mechanical calculating devices such as

, which have been replaced by electronic calculators and computer software, wheel charts and slide charts have survived to the present time. There are a number of companies who design and manufacture these devices.

Unlike the general-purpose mechanical calculators, slide charts are typically devoted to carrying out a particular specialized calculation, or displaying information on a single product or a particular process. For example, the "CurveEasy" wheel chart displays information related to spherical geometry calculations, and the Prestolog calculator is used for cost/profit calculations. Another example of a wheel chart is the planisphere, which shows the location of stars in the sky for a given location, date, and time.

Slide charts are often associated with particular sports, political campaigns or commercial companies. For example, a pharmaceutical company may create wheel charts printed with their company name and product information for distribution to medical practitioners.

Slide charts are common collectables.

See also

• The E6B aviation flight computing device, still in regular use

References

• Reinventing the Wheel,
  ISBN 978-1-56898-596-1
  )

External links

• Slide Chart Examples