Testing Your Laboratory Balance

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Testing Your Laboratory Balance
If you use a laboratory balance in your day-to-day work, you may have
wondered whether it is accurate. Here are four tests that you can use to confirm
your instrument's accuracy. In this article you will learn to make these tests
yourself.
Repeatability
refers to the instrument's ability to repeatedly deliver the same
weight reading for a given object when it is weighed several times. It is
expressed as a standard deviation. Standard deviation, or repeatability , is often
an advertised performance specification for a lab balance.
Cornerload
errors are those errors associated with different positions on the
weighing pan of the object being weighed. A given object should produce the
same reading regardless of its position on the weighing pan.
Linearity
is the characteristic which quantifies the accuracy of the instrument
at intermediate readings throughout the weighing range of the instrument. Since
a lab balance will often be used to weigh items much smaller than the capacity
of the instrument, this is a critical aspect.
Span
refers to the difference between the weight reading of a given mass
standard, and the actual value of that standard. This measurement is often done
at or near full capacity. This is the test (or adjustment) that most people thing of
when the refer to calibration of their instrument. For many users, it is the only
test or adjustment they will choose to make routinely.
The following pages contain specific instructions for performing these tests.
IES Corporation
Repair of Laboratory Balances
(800) 541-0852
www

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