Instruments

for
Measuring
Weight
and
Pressure

Instruments for Measuring Weight

Methods:
I. Mechanical
Instrument
1. Spring Scale- a balance that measure
weight by the tension on a helical spring.
It is simply a spring fixed at one end with
a hook to attach an object at the other.
Spring balances' main uses are industrial,
especially related to weighing heavy
loads such as trucks, storage silos, and
material carried on a conveyor belt. They
are also common in science education as
basic accelerometers. A spring balance
measures the weight of an object by
opposing the force of gravity with the
force of an extended spring.

2. Balance Scale- was the first mass

measuring instrument invented. In its
traditional form, it consists of a pivoted
horizontal lever of equal length arms,
called the beam, with a weighing pan,
suspended from each arm. It is used for
precision mass measurement, because
unlike spring scales their accuracy is not
affected by differences in the local
gravity, which can vary by almost 0.5% at
different locations on Earth.

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3. Pendulum Balance Scale- Pendulum

type scales do not use springs. This

design uses pendulums and operates
as a balance and is unaffected by
differences in gravity. An example of
application of this design is scales
made by the Toledo Scale Company.

4. Roberval Balance- In this scale,

two identical horizontal beams are
attached, one directly above the
other, to a vertical column, which is
attached to a stable base. It is
arguably less accurate and more
difficult to manufacture than a beam
balance with suspended plates. The
suspended-mass balance, however,
has the disadvantages of having
strings in the way of the user and
needing to be suspended. It has, for
over three hundred years, been very
popular for applications where
convenience and moderate accuracy
are required, notably in retail trade.
II. Electronic
Instruments
1. Microbalance- It is an instrument
capable of making precise measurements
of weight of objects of relatively small
mass: of the order of a million parts of a
gram.

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2. Analytical Balance- It is a class of

balance designed to measure
small mass in the sub-milligram range.
Electronic analytical scales measure the
force needed to counter the mass being
measured rather than using actual
masses.

3. Strain Gauge Scale- In electronic

versions of spring scales, the deflection of
a beam supporting the unknown weight is
measured using a strain gauge, which is a
length-sensitive electrical resistance. The
capacity is only limited by the resistance
of the beam to deflection. The results
from several supporting locations may be
added electronically, so this technique is
suitable for determining the weight of
very heavy objects and is used in
Modern weighbridge.
4. Supermarket/Retail Scale- used in
the bakery, grocery, delicatessen, seafoo
d, meat, produce and other perishable
goods departments. Supermarket scales
can print labels and receipts, mark
weight/count, unit price, total price and in
some cases tare. Some modern
supermarket scales print an RFID tag that
can be used to track the item for
tampering or returns.

III. Electrical
Instruments
1. Mass Spectrometer- an instrument
which can measure the masses and
relative concentrations of atoms and
molecules.

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2. Inertial Balance- a device that

allows the measurement of inertial
mass that can be operated in the
microgravity environment of space
where weight is negligible.

Instruments for measuring pressure

Methods:
I. Mechanical
Instrument
1. Bourdon Gauge- has a coiled tube
whose one end is connected to the system
under consideration and other end is sealed.
Bourdon gauges can be used to measure a
wide range of pressures.

2. Diaphragm Gauge- Similar to the

Bourdon Gauge, but has a Diaphragm
which deflects on pressure changes
and the deflection is indicated on the
calibrated scale.

3. Bellows Gauge- In such gauges

indicating needle is driven by the
deflection of bellows chamber. This
gauge is suitable for measurement of
very low pressures.

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4. McLeod gauge- A McLeod

gauge isolates a sample of gas and
compresses it in a modified mercury
manometer until the pressure is a
few mmHg. The gas must be wellbehaved during its compression (it
must not condense, for example).
The technique is slow and unsuited to
continual monitoring, but is capable
of good accuracy.

II. Electronic
Instrument
1. Piezoresistive Strain Gage- Uses
the piezoresistive effect of bonded or
formed strain gauges to detect strain
due to applied pressure.
2. Capacitive- Uses a diaphragm and

pressure cavity to create a

variable capacitor to detect strain
due to applied pressure.

3. Piezoelectric- Uses
the piezoelectric effect in certain
materials such as quartz to measure
the strain upon the sensing
mechanism due to pressure.

4. Potentiometric- Uses the motion of

a wiper along a resistive mechanism
to detect the strain caused by
applied pressure.

III. Electrical

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Instrument
1. Hot Cathode ionization gauge- It is
composed mainly of three electrodes
acting together. The three electrodes
are a collector or plate, afilament,
and a grid. The collector current is
measured in picoamps by
an electrometer.
2. Pirani- A gauge consist of a metal
wire open to the pressure being
measured.

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