 Welcome to this activity on reading a triple beam balance. A triple beam balance measures the mass of an object. The unit of measurement is a gram. A triple beam balance has three beams. Each beam has specific standard mass graduations. The highest beam has 100 gram graduations. The second beam has 10 gram graduations. And the third beam has one gram graduations with a tenth of a gram graduations in between. A balance needs to be zeroed out. That means all of the weights need to be moved to the left side of the beams and the pointer needs to be straight. If the pointer is not straight, you would need to use the counterweight and adjust as needed. When your balance has been adjusted, you may put the object on the pan and let the balance settle. Move the 100 gram weight to see if the object needs that much weight or more. As you can see, the scale did not move with 100 grams so we need to move it to 200 grams. 200 grams is too much and causes the scale to shift. We have to move the scale back to 100 grams and switch to the next scale. When you have determined the 100 gram weight, go to the 10 gram beam. Select each 10 gram increment to see where the scale should be set. When the scale shifts, choose the increment 10 less than the number that caused the shift. After you have determined what weight to add from the 10 gram beam, go to the 1 gram beam to fine-tune your measurement. Select each half gram increment to narrow your final measurement. When the scale is level at zero, you found the final measurement. This final weight is 121.5 grams. You have completed this activity on reading a triple beam balance.