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Scales

Scales: is a measuring instrument for measuring the weight or mass of an object.

A weighing scale is a measuring instrument for measuring the weight or mass of an object. They use one of two techniques: A spring scale measures weight by the distance a spring deflects under its load. A balance, described below, compares the unknown weight to a standard weight using a horizontal lever. Weighing scales are used in many industrial and commercial applications, and products from feathers to loaded tractor-trailers are sold by weight.

Specialised medical scales and bathroom scales are used to measure the body weight of human beings.

A balance (also balance scale, beam balance or laboratory balance) is used to measure the mass of an object. It 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, also called scale, scalepan or bason suspended from each arm. The unknown mass is placed in one pan, and standard masses are added to the other pan until the beam is as close to equilibrum as possible, In precision balances, a slider weight is moved along a graduated scale. The slider position gives a fine correction to the weight value. Although a balance technically compares weights, not masses, the weight of an object is proporational to its mass, and the standard weights used with balances are usually labeled in mass units.

Balances are used for precision mass measurement, because unlike spring scales tier accuracy is not affected by differences in the local gravity, which can vary by almost 0.5% at different locations on Earth. A change in the strength of the gravitational field caused by moving the balance will not change the measured mass, because the moments of force on either side of the balance beam are affected equally.

Very precise measurements are achieved by ensuring that the fulcrum of the beam is essentially friction-free (a knife edge is the traditional solution), by attaching a pointer to the beam which amplifies any deviation from a balance position; and finally by using the lever principle, which allows fractional masses to be applied by movement of a small mass along the measuring arm of the beam, as described above. For greatest accuracy, there needs to be an allowance for the buoyance in air, whose effect depends on the densities of the masses involved.

The original form of a balance consisted of a beam with a fulcrum at its center. For highest accuracy, the culcrum would consist of a sharp V-sharped pivot seated in a shallower V-shaped bearing. To determine the mass of the object, a combinatin of reference masses was hung on one end of the beam while the object of unknown mass was hung on the other other. For high precision work, the center beam balance is still one of the most accurate technologies available, and is commonly used for calibrating test weights.

To reduce the need for large reference masses, an off-center beam can be used. A balance with an off-center beam can be almost as accurate as a scale with a center beam, but the off-center beam requires special reference masses and cannot be intrinsically checked for accuracy by simply swapping the contents of the pans as a center-beam balance can. To reduce the need for small graduated reference masses, a sliding weight called a poise can be installed so that it can be positioned along a calibrated scale. a poise adds further intricacies to the calibration procedure, since the exact mass of the poise must be adjusted to the exact lever ration of the beam.

For greater convenience in placing large and awkward loads, a platform can be floated on a cantilever beam system which brings the proportional force to a noseiron bearing; this pulls on a stilyard rod to transmit the reduced force to a conveniently sized beam. On still sees this design in portable beam balances of 500 kg capacity which are commonly used in harsh environments without electricity, as well as in the lighter duty mechanical bathroom scale (misnamed since it is actually a balance. The additional pivots and bearings all reduce the accuracy and complicate calibration' the float system must be corrected for corner errors before the span is corrected by adjusting the balance beam and poise. Such systems are typically accuracte to at best 1/10,000 of their capacity, unless they are expensively engineered.

Some high-end mechanical balances also use dials with counterbalancing masses instead of springs, a hybrid design withsome of the accuracy advantages of the poise and beam but the convenience of a dial reading. These designs are expensive to produce and are largely obsolete thanks to electronics.

An analytical balance is an instrument used to measure mass to very high degree of precision. The weighing pan(s) of a high precision (.01 mg or better) analytical balance are inside a transparent enclosure with doors so dust does not collect and so air currents in the room do not affect the delicate balance. The use of a vented balance safety enclosure that has uniquely designed acrylic airfoils allows a smooth turbulence-free airflow that prevents balance fluctuation and the weighing of mass down to 1ug without fluctuation or loss of product. Also, the sample must be at room temperature to prevent natural convection from forming air currents inside the enclosure, affecting the weighing. Analytical precision is acieved by maintaining a constant load on the balance beam, by subtracting mass on the same side of the beam that the sample is added. The final balance is achieved by using a small spring force rather than subtracting fixed weights.

A Spring weighing scale can measure force transmitted through the scale in any direction. In a typical spring scale, the spring stretches (as in a hanging scales in the produce department of a grocery store) or compresses (as in a simple bathroom scale) in proportion to how hard the Earth pulls down on the object. Every spring has a porportionality constant that relates how hard you pull it to how far it stretches. Some weighing scales such as a Jolly Balance use a spring with a known spring constant and measure the displacement of the spring by any variety of mechanisms to produce an estimate of the gravational force applied by the object, which can be simply hung from the spring or set on a pivot and bearing platform. Rack and pinion mechanisms are often used to convert the linear spring motion to a dial reading. Spring scales measure weight, the local force of gravity on an object, and are usually calibrated in units of force such as Newtons or pounds-force. They have two sources of error that balance scales do not; the measured weight varies with the strength of the local gravitional force, as much as 0.5% at different locations, and the elasticity of the measurement spring can vary slightly with temperature. Spring scales which are legal for commerce either have temperature compensated springs or are used at a fairly constant temperature, and must be calibrated at the location in which they are used, to eliminate the effect of gravity variations.

Strain Guage 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 of such devices 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 especially suitable for determining the weight of very heavy objects, such as trucks and railcars, and is used in a modern weigh bridge.

Hydraulic or Pheumatic Scale: It is also common in high-capacity applications such as crane scales to use hydraulic force to sense weight. The test force is applied to a piston or diaphragm and transmitted through hydraulic lines to a dial indicator on a Bourdon tube or electronic sensor.

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