Introduction to Measurement

A measuring instrument can be defined as a device which can be use to determining the value or magnitude of a quantity or variable. The measurement of a given parameter is a result of a quantitative comparison between a predefined standard and an unknown quantity to be measured.

Measurement is a process or an operation using an instrument to determine the parameter, quantity or variable in terms of meaningful numbers. Measurement helps us with depth knowledge of the process and provide us meaningful numbers and parameters which is require to obtain any further modification if requires as per requirement and standards.

Measurement is defined as the process of comparison of an unknown quantity with a known or standard quantity. The main objective of measurement is to obtain the required information to the successful completion of the process.

Importance of Measurement:

The importance of measurements is:

1. Measurement plays an important role in engineering processes, control systems, instrumentation, etc.
2. Measurement helps to maximize the efficiency, minimize the cost with the desired degree of reliability and maintainability.
3. Measurement used to achieve goals and objectives of engineering.
4. Measurement confirms the validity and specifications of a product.
5. New inventions or discoveries are not any practical utility unless results are use by actual measurements.

Applications of Measurement Systems:

The instruments and measurement syste4ms are used for following applications,

1. Monitoring of process and operations: There are many applications of measuring instruments that comes essentially under monitoring function. It is the values or condition of a parameter under the stud of their readings.
2. Control of processes and operations: It is one of the important and useful application of instruments in an automatic control system. The variables measured in control of processes like temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.
3. Experimental engineering analysis: To find the solution of engineering problems, there are theoretical and experimental methods are available. Experimental engineering analysis used to determination of system parameters, variables and performance indices and testing the validity of theoretical predictions.

Advantages of Measurement:

The advantages of measurement are as follows,

1. Measurements can be carried either simultaneously or in rapid succession.
2. The measurement signals can be transmitted to long distances with the help of cables.
3. The measurements can be easily converted into digital form for automatic recording and analysis.
4. High sensitivity, high reliability and low power consumption are the important features of measurements.
5. An electronic measurement makes possible to build analog and digital signals.