Steelyard balance

The arm from which the object to be weighed (the load) is hung is short and is located close to the pivot point.

[1] The steelyard exemplifies the law of the lever, wherein, when balanced, the weight of the object being weighed, multiplied by the length of the short balance arm to which it is attached, is equal to the weight of the counterweight multiplied by the distance of the counterweight from the pivot.

[2] According to Thomas G. Chondros of Patras University, a simple steelyard balance with a lever mechanism first appeared in the ancient Near East over 5,000 years ago.

[3] According to Mark Sky of Harvard University, the steelyard was in use among Greek craftsmen of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, even before Archimedes demonstrated the law of the lever theoretically.

Even larger steelyards were three stories tall and used to weigh fully laden horse-drawn carts.

A 19th-century steelyard crane
Steelyard weighing device from the late nineteenth century. Minnesota Historical Society collections.
Roman steelyard from Pompeii
Eighteenth century cart balance at Fountains Lane, Soham