Official calibration SI units

• Time (s)
• Length (m)
• Mass (kg)
• Current (A)
• Temperature (K)
• Amount of substance (mol)
• Luminous intensity (cd)

WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 24

 Riddle

• It’s money but it can be killed

• It flies and heals all wounds
• We can be ahead of it, over it, on it or out of it.
• We can win it, save it or lose it.

TIME!

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 Measurement of Time

• Day, night, moon cycle, position of the sun

• Angular measurement
• Babylonia subdivision 12:60:60, 360:60:60
• Hourglass
• Resonator, pendulum (Galileo, based on
gravity) and mass spring system:
• Mechanical movement (Q~10)
• Tuning fork (Q~30)
• Quarz cristal (Q >100)
• Atom vibrations (Q>>1000)

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 Time standard
• The absolute time was first related to the highest point of the
position of the sun but now the astronomic position of the earth
is taken as reference.

• The relative time is referred to:

At the start of the 20th century:

• 1 second is 1/31,556,925.974,74 of the tropical sun year on
december 31st 1899 at 12 AM. GMT.

In 1968
• 1 second is 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation caused by the
transition between two electron spin energy levels at the ground
state of Caesium 133
• It is accurate up to 1 second in 300,000 years (1:1013)

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 Length is one of the oldest measures
and often based on human references

• 1 mile is 1000 double steps of an average Roman

soldier
• Foot, thumb, yard

A living length standard

For the yard

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 Length

• 1 mile is 1000 double steps of an average Roman soldier

• Foot, thumb, yard, el
• Inch = 3 barley corns

• Huygens (1664):
• Length of a pendulum with 1 second period. Link with time!

• In 1799 the standard was based by Jean Henri van Swinden on

1/10,000,000 of the distance from the pole to the equator

• In 1875 the standard was based on a Pt-Ir bar

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 The present length standard is based
on the wavelength of light.

• 1 meter = path travelled by light

in 1/299,792,458 s.
• Older standards shouldn’t change!
• Dutch standard today is HeNe
laser with Iodine absorption cell.
• The laser is tuned to the absorption
spectre of the Iodine gas giving a
reproduceability of better then
1: 100,000,000,000 (1011)

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 Mass started with weight.

• Measured and compared with a

balance
• Standards were items assumed to
be of constant weight:
• Seeds of a tree (Egypt) Quirat (Carat!)
• Shekel, Talent, Unciae (Ounce! Inch!)
• Libra, pound (lb, £)
• A pound is no pound (pond). Its
mass became a political issue but
trade forced the politicians to an
international standard.
WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 31
 The Swiss mr. Trallès came with a
mass standard (~1800)

• 1kg 1/1,000 of a cubic meter water

• With a derived mass of 1 kilogram in Platina
• Many derived standard kilograms were made over the
years and all differ a bit in the order of tens of a
milligram (1:10,000,000 = 1: 107)
• Influence of air, pollution, contamination etc.

• No better way of standardisation of mass exists today

• A silicon ball with perfect surface is considered as
alternative.
WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 32
 The standard of current (A)
• Originally it was the current that caused a certain
amount of silver to precipitate from AgNO3.
• Now the Amp is based on the Ayrton-Jones current
balance.

WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 33

WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 34
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 This is not manageable so other standards
are chosen:

• Farad based on the laws of capacity

(surface, distance dielectrical
constant)

8.8541878176 × 10í12 F/m (C2/Jm),

• Volt based on the AC Josephson

effect in superconductivity which
translates a voltage into a frequency
WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 36
 Josephson junction

A DC Voltage over a Josephson Junction results in an AC current with frequency:

For 1 uV this means:

The standard volt is now defined as the voltage required

to produce a frequency of 483,597.9 GHz.
This can be done with an accuracy of 1010
WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 37
 Now Amp relates to voltage and
Farad

• The charge in a capacitor equals

Q = CV

• Current through a capacitor gives

a voltage change

WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 38

 And last but not least temperature

Always related to specific assumed fixed temperatures in

Nature:
• Fahrenheit (one of the stories) took the coldest temp he
could create as 0 0F and his own body temperature as 100 0F.
He found the freezing point of water (32 0F) and boiling point
(212 0F) being a nice 180 0F apart. Measurement errors made
it necessary to correct this later
• Celcius took the water characteristics
• Kelvin took the same division as Celcius but started at the
absolute zero.
• Ideal Gas law: PV = nRLJ
• Extrapolation from known fixed points

WB2303 measurement theory and praxis (2006-2007) 39

 Primary fixed points for temperature
calibration

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