science

Nine oils

Nine oils is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nine oils rather than just read about it. In short: In the 19th century, the nine oils was a preparation, or liniment, which was rubbed into the skin to relieve aches, such as over bruises. "Nine oils" was apparently developed in veterinary medicine, for treating horses, but later was adopted for human medical use. According to one 19th-century druggists' book, oils used in the preparation included: train oil; that is, whale oil or the oil of the blubber of another m…

Key takeaways

Nine oils belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nine oils to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nine oils from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In the 19th century, the nine oils was a preparation, or liniment, which was rubbed into the skin to relieve aches, such as over bruises. "Nine oils" was apparently developed in veterinary medicine, for treating horses, but later was adopted for human medical use. According to one 19th-century druggists' book, oils used in the preparation included:

train oil; that is, whale oil or the oil of the blubber of another marine mammal oil of turpentine oil of bricks, the oil obtained by the distillation of pieces of brick saturated with rapeseed oil or olive oil oil of amber spirit of camphor Barbados tar, a kind of greenish petroleum found in Barbados oil of vitriol; that is, sulfuric acid However, it is certain that many "nine oils" preparations did not contain these ingredients, and in fact it is possible that the name "nine oils" never referred to any specific combination of compounds. The writer James Greenwood, in 1883, put these words in the mouth of the street-doctor "Dr. Quackinbosh", in his series of articles Toilers in London, by One of the Crowd, originally serialized in The Daily Telegraph:

When I first started I worked Woolwich with my "miraculous Nine Oils." Men who work at heavy lifting and hauling, and are likely to get strains and ricks of the back, have a superstitious belief in the "Nine Oils." It is the same wherever you go. What are they? what, the original Nine? Blessed if I know, nor they don't know either. But that don't make any difference. I used to give 'em one – sperm oil – and call it the Nine.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nine oils

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nine oils claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nine oils before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nine oils ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nine oils

In research: Nine oils appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nine oils in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nine oils is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ointments, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nine oils outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nine oils in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nine oils means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nine oils out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nine oils in simple terms?

Why does Nine oils matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nine oils?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nine oils.