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Adapted from Introduction to Metrology from the Madison Area Technical College,
Biotechnology Project (Lisa Seidman)
http://biotech.matcmadison.edu/resources/methods/measurement/measure.htm
What is metrology?
The study of measurements
Measurements are quantitative
observations; numerical descriptions
Measurements are part of the daily routine
in a biotech lab
Measurements are expected to be good
What is a good
measurement?
If you weigh at home and then at the
doctors office and get a different weight,
which is correct?
Did your weight change (sample issue)?
Is one or both scales wrong (instrument
issue)?
How do you know which of these is correct?
What is a good
measurement?
A good measurement is one that can be
trusted when making decisions
Decisions are made daily on whether
measurements are good enough, but they
are made subconsciously and often by
different people
Decisions need to be conscious and
consistent.
Metrology Vocabulary
Unit of measurement
Accuracy
Precision
Standards
Calibration
Verification
Traceability
Tolerance
Errors
Uncertainty
Question
Would you rather me give you the one worth
one or worth five?
Units
Units define measurements
Units give the numbers value
Definition set by international SI system
Accuracy vs Precision
Expressions
Accuracy
Precision
Expression of variability
Take the mean (average)
Calculate how much each measurement
deviates from mean
Take an average of the deviation, so it is the
average deviation from the mean
Significant Figures
Rounding
Greater than or equal to 5 then round up
Less than 5 then round down
When adding or subtracting, the number of
decimal places in the result equals the
smallest number of decimal places in the
input numbers.
When multiplying or dividing, the number of
significant figures in the result equals the
smallest number of significant figures in the
input numbers.
Scientific Notation
The coefficient must be greater than or
equal to 1 and less than 10.
The base must be 10.
The exponent must show the number of
decimal places that the decimal needs to be
moved to change the number to standard
notation. A negative exponent means that
the decimal is moved to the left when
changing to standard notation.
Standards
Measurements made in accordance with
an external authority
A standard is an external authority
They are physical objects, the properties of
which are known with sufficient accuracy
to be used to evaluate other items
Units are unaffected by the environment,
but standards are
Also solutions or documents
Calibration
Bringing a measuring system into
accordance with external authority, using
standards
For example, calibrating a balance
Verification
Tolerance
Example
Traceability
The chain of calibrations,
genealogy, that establishes
the value of a standard or
measurement
In the U.S. traceability for
most physical and some
chemical standards goes back
to NIST(National Institute
of Standards and Technology)
Error
Error is responsible for the difference
between a measured value and the true
value
Three types of error:
Gross (blunders)
Random
Systematic
Random Erros
Random errors are errors that cannot be
eliminated. They are variability and no one
knows why. Maybe humidity, pressure, etc.
This is why we take several measurements
and average them to get best estimate of
true value
Random error leads to loss of precision
Systemic Error
Defined as measurements that are
consistently too high or too low, bias
Many causes, contaminated solutions,
malfunctioning instruments, temperature
fluctuations, etc., etc.
Technician controls sources of systematic
error and should try to eliminate them, if
possible
Impacts accuracy so try not to repeat them
Uncertainty
Estimate of the inaccuracy of a
measurement that includes both the random
and systematic components.
Errors lead to uncertainty in measurements
Can never know the exact, true value for
any measurement.
Idea of a true value is abstract never
knowable.
In practice, get close enough