Physics Notes For SSC CGL / CHSL Exam 2019-20 on : Measurement and Measuring Instruments

Measurement is the basis of all important scientific study. It plays an important role in our daily life also. When finding your height, buying milk for your family, timing the race completed by your friend and so on, you need to be able to make measurements. Measurement answers questions like, how long, how heavy and how fast? Measurement is the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event which can be compared with other objects or events. It is defined as the determination of the size or magnitude of something. In this we will learn about units of measurements and the characteristics of measuring instruments.

Measuring instrument

A measuring instrument is a device for measuring a physical quantity. In the physical sciences, quality assurance, and engineering, measurement is the activity of obtaining and comparing physical quantities of real-world objects and events. Established standard objects and events are used as units, and the process of measurement gives a number relating the item under study and the referenced unit of measurement. Measuring instruments, and formal test methods which define the instrument’s use, are the means by which these relations of numbers are obtained. All measuring instruments are subject to varying degrees of instrument error and measurement uncertainty. These instruments may range from simple objects such as rulers and stopwatches to electron microscopes and particle accelerators. Virtual instrumentation is widely used in the development of modern measuring instruments.

List of measuring devices