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.
- Force is a measure of the interaction between bodies, mass is a measure of the amount of material in an object, weight is the gravitational force acting on a body (although for trading purposes it is taken to mean the same as mass) and load usually means the force exerted on a surface or body.
- Force measurement systems can involve a number of different physical principles but their performance can be described by a number of common characteristics and terms.
- The figures in the table below represent typical characteristics but force transducers and force measurement systems will often operate outside these ranges with increased measurement uncertainty.
- A force measurement system is made up of a transducer and associated instrumentation.
- The measurement uncertainties associated with specifications for force-measuring devices are often expressed as a percentage of full-scale reading. This is not always the case, however, and sometimes percentage of reading is used instead and the differences can be very significant, particularly when measuring forces that are quite small for a particular instrument.
- 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.