FAQsMeasurements of mass, force, pressure and density are some of the most commonly made in the UK. NPL ensures that these measurements can be made traceable to internationally agreed standards.
- Yes there are - some are listed here.
- The variation in the value of g across the earth's surface is about 0.5 % due to latitude, plus a change of approximately 0.003 % per 100 m altitude. Local topography and tidal forces also can have small effects.
- Equivalent force values are given here.
- The Système International d'unités - the SI system - is the coherent system of units adopted and recommended by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM). It is based on seven base quantities: length, mass, time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature, amount of substance, and luminous intensity.
- There are many types of force transducer and they are used with instrumentation of varying complexity. In designing or specifying a force measurement system for an application, it is useful to understand the basic operation of the transducer to be used and also their broad operating characteristics.
- The International Prototype Kilogram is not perfectly stable (its mass changes with time), the amount it changes cannot be known perfectly (there is no 'perfect' reference against which to judge it) and the values of the national copies cannot be monitored at the highest level of accuracy without being compared directly with it.
- Up to a point yes, but unless a weight is of suitable design and material and in appropriate condition it will not be possible to give it a meaningful calibration and it would certainly be a waste of money.
- Give the weight a general inspection to check its construction, surface finish and the suitability of its magnetic properties.
- Yes, magnetic fields - and indeed magnetically permeable materials close to a balance - can effect a weighing result.
- Historically there have been a variety of units of mass and density, and approximate conversion factors to some of these are given below.
- No, they are not. The internationally recognised SI unit for pressure is the pascal, abbreviated to Pa, and this is the unit realised by the primary measurement standards in the world's national metrology institutes to provide traceability for pressure measurements.
- The most accurate barometers are indeed the mercury primary barometers used at national measurement institutes. Most barometers, though, are secondary instruments rather than primary ones and when considering these it is not correct to say that those based on a mercury column are invariably more accurate than those that are based on an alternative principle.
- Yes it can in some circumstances but, where it does, it is fairly easy to ensure that its effect on the measurement uncertainties obtained is negligible.
- When converting between pressure units consideration should be given to the number of significant figures to use, bearing in mind that many of the underlying conversion factors are not themselves exact and cannot be made so.
- To calculate a pressure value using a liquid column - for example a mercury barometer - or a pressure balance it is necessary to know the gravitational acceleration at the location of the instrument. It can be determined by measurement on site, calculation or interpolation of measured values.