Placas de Richard

English translation: pressure plates (Richards plates)

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:Placas de Richard
English translation:pressure plates (Richards plates)
Entered by: Charles Davis

11:57 Feb 26, 2016
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Science - Environment & Ecology / Soil analysis - lab equipment
Spanish term or phrase: Placas de Richard
SPAIN. This appears in a list of laboratory equipment, specifically for soil analysis. I'm wondering if they mean Petri dishes or something similar?

"- Placas de Richard
- Horno/Microondas para Digestión y Extracción"
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 14:14
pressure plates / Richards plates
Explanation:
Nothing to do with Petri dishes (for bacterial culture). These are devices used in soil analysis to measure moisture. They were invented by a man called Richards and are sometimes called Richards plates, which you may prefer to use so as to stay closer to the Spanish, but that term seems to be used in Spanish-related sources and in English they're more commonly called pressure plates.

Here's what they look like:
"Placas de Richard para cálculo de retención de humedad"
http://www.agua.imdea.org/investigacion/infraestructuras-cie...

This seems to be the same thing in English, though I think the source is Spanish:
"Richards plates to calculate moisture retention"
http://www.water.imdea.org/research/scientific-infrastructur...

"PRESSURE PLATES
The pressure plate was introduced in the 1930s by L.A. Richards. The pressure plate doesn’t actually measure the water potential of a sample. Instead, it brings the sample to a specific water potential by applying pressure to the sample and allowing the excess water to flow out through a porous ceramic plate. When the sample comes to equilibrium, its water potential will be equivalent to the pressure applied"
https://www.decagon.com/en/education/articles/water-potentia...

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Note added at 47 mins (2016-02-26 12:44:51 GMT)
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To be honest, I'd be inclined to avoid "Richards plate" and just use "pressure plate". I don't seem to be able to find an example of "Richards plate" that isn't by a Spanish or Italian author. All the bona fide English sources seem to call them pressure plates, although they were invented by Richards. Just a matter of custom, I presume.

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Note added at 48 mins (2016-02-26 12:46:04 GMT)
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I believe Richards himself referred to them as "porous plates". See the description in my last reference.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2016-02-26 12:58:21 GMT)
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Yes, it should be Richards, not Richard, but that's par for the course. I was doing an academic article on congenital anomalies last week and it referred to Edwards syndrome (named after J. H. Edwards) as "síndrome de Edward". Spaniards are not very good about that sort of name; they probably think the s is an optional extra, or get Richards muddled with Richard's.

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Note added at 7 hrs (2016-02-26 19:37:30 GMT)
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The same thing happened to me!
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 14:14
Grading comment
The pressure! It's tough at the top...
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5pressure plates / Richards plates
Charles Davis
4 +1Petri dishes
Sheila Hardie


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Petri dishes


Explanation:
I imagine so. Petri's full name was 'Julius Richard Petri' and they are also known as Petri plates in English.

HTH

Julius Richard Petri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Richard_Petri
Tradueix aquesta pàgina
Julius Richard Petri (May 31, 1852 – December 20, 1921) was a German microbiologist who is generally credited with inventing the device known as the Petri ...
‎Life and career – ‎Importance of the Petri dish – ‎Works – ‎References

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Note added at 23 mins (2016-02-26 12:20:24 GMT)
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To be honest, I think most people in Spain call them 'placas de Petri' but maybe the author of your text got confused and thought that Richard was the guy's 'first surname' :) Who knows?

Sheila Hardie
Spain
Local time: 14:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 83
Notes to answerer
Asker: So, Spanish speakers seemt to have assumed that "Richard" was the surname, and called them after that, rather than "Petri". Interesting... I've never heard of Richard plates before :)

Asker: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22Richard+plates%22&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiT1snFtJXLAhXMDxoKHZ12DQ4QsAQIGw


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  matt robinson: Yup
6 mins
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40 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
pressure plates / Richards plates


Explanation:
Nothing to do with Petri dishes (for bacterial culture). These are devices used in soil analysis to measure moisture. They were invented by a man called Richards and are sometimes called Richards plates, which you may prefer to use so as to stay closer to the Spanish, but that term seems to be used in Spanish-related sources and in English they're more commonly called pressure plates.

Here's what they look like:
"Placas de Richard para cálculo de retención de humedad"
http://www.agua.imdea.org/investigacion/infraestructuras-cie...

This seems to be the same thing in English, though I think the source is Spanish:
"Richards plates to calculate moisture retention"
http://www.water.imdea.org/research/scientific-infrastructur...

"PRESSURE PLATES
The pressure plate was introduced in the 1930s by L.A. Richards. The pressure plate doesn’t actually measure the water potential of a sample. Instead, it brings the sample to a specific water potential by applying pressure to the sample and allowing the excess water to flow out through a porous ceramic plate. When the sample comes to equilibrium, its water potential will be equivalent to the pressure applied"
https://www.decagon.com/en/education/articles/water-potentia...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 47 mins (2016-02-26 12:44:51 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

To be honest, I'd be inclined to avoid "Richards plate" and just use "pressure plate". I don't seem to be able to find an example of "Richards plate" that isn't by a Spanish or Italian author. All the bona fide English sources seem to call them pressure plates, although they were invented by Richards. Just a matter of custom, I presume.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 48 mins (2016-02-26 12:46:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I believe Richards himself referred to them as "porous plates". See the description in my last reference.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2016-02-26 12:58:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Yes, it should be Richards, not Richard, but that's par for the course. I was doing an academic article on congenital anomalies last week and it referred to Edwards syndrome (named after J. H. Edwards) as "síndrome de Edward". Spaniards are not very good about that sort of name; they probably think the s is an optional extra, or get Richards muddled with Richard's.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2016-02-26 19:37:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The same thing happened to me!

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 14:14
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 96
Grading comment
The pressure! It's tough at the top...
Notes to answerer
Asker: So, the original should read "Placas de Richards" with a final S? Now I'm spoilt for choice...

Asker: I googled "Richard Plates" and all I got was ads for tacky ornamental plates with Sir Cliff on them!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos
7 mins
  -> Thanks, Muriel!

agree  Michael van Laake: That's it. I have also seen "prensa de membranas" in Spanish- in Agua y Agronomía by Francisco Martín de Santa Olalla Mañas
1 hr
  -> Many thanks for the information! Best regards :)

agree  philgoddard
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Phil :)

agree  Ventnai
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Ian :)

agree  Elena Bailey
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Elena :)
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