Measurement Basics

K. Poddar

Measurement Basics
When

employing

measurement

technique

to

investigate a physical phenomenon, two principles

must

remain

uppermost

in

the

mind

of

the

experimenter:
the measured quantity must be meaningful, i.e., it
must have a clear relationship to the phenomenon
of interest,
the measurement must be performed in a way
which will produce the minimum disturbance to
the medium.

Measurement Chain
The measurement of a given physical property is
almost never done in a completely direct manner. It
is rather performed with the help of a measurement
chain.

general

measurement

consists of the following elements:

chain

typically

Probe
The probe detects the physical quantity of interest (g)
and converts it into a signal detectable by a
transducer. The probe must therefore provide a clear
relationship between the quantity of interest (g) and
the

quantity

delivered

to

the

transducer;

the

disturbances introduced by the presence of the probe

in the flowfield must also be maintained as small as
possible (e.g. Pitot probe, hot wire, thin film, etc.).

Transducer
The transducer is an energy conversion device. It
transforms the physical quantity provided by the
probe in a more convenient, usually electrical, form
(f). The advantages of such an electrical conversion
are:
the possibility of an important amplification of
the signal (e.g. thermocouples)
the

signal

can

be

converted

with

large

frequency band
the signal can be transmitted at a long distance
this conversion is useful for physical quantities
varying rapidly.

Manipulation Element
The manipulation element is used for
acquisition

and

information
system

transmission

through

with

of

the

the

measuring

minimum

alteration

(amplifier, filter, emitter, etc.).

Display & Acquisition System

The recording / display / Data Acquisition

System element transforms the output of the
manipulation element into an interpretable
form,

permanent

or

semi-

permanent,

eventually through the use of a computer

(voltmeter,

oscilloscope,

memory

of

computer, etc.). It is usually the most limited

element in the measurement chain.

Characteristics of Measurement Chain

The characteristics of a measurement chain can be
classified into two families:
static characteristics, i.e., independent of time, and
dynamic characteristics, i.e., time depended.
Desirable

static

characteristics

are

accuracy,

reproducibility and sensitivity. Undesirable static

characteristics are static error, drift and dead zone.
Desirable
response

dynamic
and

characteristics

fidelity,

are

undesirable

characteristics are lag and dynamic error.

speed

of

dynamic

Static Characteristics
Range of an instrument
Span of an instrument
Accuracy
Static error
Repeatability
Drift
Dead zone
Sensitivity

Dynamic Characteristics
The dynamic characteristics of an instrument are
generally determined by subjecting it to known
variations in the measured quantity (step, linear,
sinusoidal, etc.).
Speed of response: speed with
which an instrument reacts to a
step change in its input signal
Lag: delay in the response of an
instrument.
Dynamic error: difference between the true and
the indicated values of a time-varying quantity.

Interactions between measurement chain

and the environment

It is clear that a long way exists between what

one would like to measure and what one is able
to measure.

Error and Uncertainty

Uncertainty: The results of a repeated experiment
are expected to remain within an interval around
each measurement point. This interval is referred to
as the experimental uncertainty.
Error:

The

error

is

associated

to

single

observation. It is the difference between the "true"

and "corrected" values. It is therefore unknown a
priori and it is a fixed value for a single observation.

Random Error
the random error is obtained when repeated
trials of an experiment are performed by using the
same equipment and the same personnel. This
value scatters around a mean value; this mean
value can be accurately determined if a sufficient
number of data points is available. The standard
deviation of the data about the mean is a measure
of the random error.

Bias or Systematic Error

the bias error (or fixed, constant, systematic
error) is the difference between the mean value of
the measurements and the actual "true" or "real"
value of the measured quantity. The bias is
normally

constant

for

repeated

trials

of

an

experiment with same equipment and personnel.

It can be difficult to estimate since the "true"
value is generally unknown.

Uncertainty
The uncertainty is determined for a number of
experiments and represents the possible value that
the error might have within a given confidence
interval. It is expressed as follows:

= 500 W / m 2 K

25 W / m 2 K

Measured value

500 W/m2K

Uncertainty

25 W/m2K

Confidence level :

(20 : 1)

(20:1), i.e., out of 20

measurements, only 1 will fall out

of the range 475...525 W /m2K.

Uncertainty Calculation