Linear Measurement Report

1562 Words7 Pages
Basic Linear Measurements M. M. L. Lim Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Material Engineering University of the Philippines, Diliman Abstract Linear measurements obtained using any instrument will always have uncertainties which depends on the accuracy and precision of the instrument used. In the experiment, the instruments being compared were a ruler and a Vernier caliper. The standard deviations of their measurements were compared. This was done to compare the accuracy and precision of the instruments. The results show that the measurements obtained using the ruler is less accurate compared to the measurements obtained using the Vernier Caliper. The volume of the objects were also determined using the measurements obtained using a…show more content…
Introduction Measurements made by instruments, no matter how accurate, will have uncertainties. Different instruments used in measuring dimensions have different accuracies . Generally, measuring instruments with less scales will have a lower accuracy compared to an instrument with more. An example of an instrument that has a low accuracy would be a ruler [1]. A ruler measures the length up to 0.1cm without uncertainty but a Vernier caliper is able to measure lengths up to 0.01cm [4]. Specific dimensions are measured when a volume of an object is being calculated. Another technique that can be used is water displacement method. Archimedes’ principle states that “When a body is completely or partially immersed in a fluid, the fluid exerts an upward force on the body equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body”. The volume of the object can be obtained by immersing the object in liquid and determining amount of displaced liquid [5]. 2. Methodology Three samples were obtained. The samples to be measure were a staple remover, rubber dog-bone sample and rubber cylinder. The mass of each sample was first obtained by placing each on an analytical balance. After taking the mass, the dimensions of each sample was…show more content…
The ruler can be used if the measurement being obtained is concerned only getting an estimate of a length. To get a more accurate measurement of length, the Vernier caliper is a better alternative [1]. In the experiment, the better instrument to be used in measuring the dimensions of the samples would be the Vernier caliper and the ruler comes would be next. However, if the measurement that needs to be obtained is volume, the most convenient would be the water displacement method, since it accounts for the overall volume of an object. The ruler and Vernier caliper assumes that the surface of the sample being measured is uniform in shape and because of this errors in measurement may arise [5]. 4. Conclusion Based on the experiment made, the Vernier caliper is the more accurate and precise instrument compared to a ruler when measuring the dimensions of a staple remover, rubber dog-bone sample, and rubber cylinder.

More about Linear Measurement Report

Open Document