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Measurement
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Measurementistheassignmentofanumbertoacharacteristicofanobjectorevent,whichcanbecompared
withotherobjectsorevents.[1][2]Thescopeandapplicationofameasurementisdependentonthecontextand
discipline.Inthenaturalsciencesandengineering,measurementsdonotapplytonominalpropertiesofobjects
orevents,whichisconsistentwiththeguidelinesoftheInternationalvocabularyofmetrologypublishedbythe
InternationalBureauofWeightsandMeasures.[2]However,inotherfieldssuchasstatisticsaswellasthesocial
andbehavioralsciences,measurementscanhavemultiplelevels,whichwouldincludenominal,ordinal,
interval,andratioscales.[1][3]
Measurementisacornerstoneoftrade,science,technology,andquantitativeresearchinmanydisciplines.
Historically,manymeasurementsystemsexistedforthevariedfieldsofhumanexistencetofacilitate
comparisonsinthesefields.Oftenthesewereachievedbylocalagreementsbetweentradingpartnersor
collaborators.Sincethe18thcentury,developmentsprogressedtowardsunifying,widelyacceptedstandards
thatresultedinthemodernInternationalSystemofUnits(SI).Thissystemreducesallphysicalmeasurements
toamathematicalcombinationofsevenbaseunits.Thescienceofmeasurementispursuedinthefieldof
metrology.

Contents
1 Methodology
2 Standardizationofmeasurementunits
2.1 Standards
3 Unitsandsystems
3.1 ImperialandUSCustomarysystems
3.2 Metricsystem
3.3 InternationalSystemofUnits
3.3.1 Convertingprefixes
3.4 Length
3.5 Somespecialnames
3.6 Buildingtrades
3.7 Surveyor'sTrade
3.8 Time
3.9 Mass
3.10 Economics
4 Difficulties
5 Definitionsandtheories
5.1 Classicaldefinition
5.2 Representationaltheory
5.3 Informationtheory
5.4 Quantummechanics
6 Seealso
7 References
8 Externallinks

AtypicaltapemeasurewithbothMetricand
ImperialunitsandtwoUSpenniesforcomparison

Methodology
Themeasurementofapropertymaybecategorizedbythefollowingcriteria:type,magnitude,unit,and
uncertainty.Theyenableunambiguouscomparisonsbetweenmeasurements.
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Thetypeorlevelofmeasurementisataxonomyforthemethodologicalcharacterofacomparison.For
example,twostatesofapropertymaybecomparedbyratio,difference,orordinalpreference.Thetypeis
commonlynotexplicitlyexpressed,butimplicitinthedefinitionofameasurementprocedure.Themagnitudeis
thenumericalvalueofthecharacterization,usuallyobtainedwithasuitablychosenmeasuringinstrument.A
unitassignsamathematicalweightingfactortothemagnitudethatisderivedasaratiotothepropertyofan
artifactusedasstandardoranaturalphysicalquantity.Anuncertaintyrepresentstherandomandsystemic
errorsofthemeasurementprocedureitindicatesaconfidencelevelinthemeasurement.Errorsareevaluated
bymethodicallyrepeatingmeasurementsandconsideringtheaccuracyandprecisionofthemeasuring
instrument.

Standardizationofmeasurementunits
MeasurementsmostcommonlyusetheInternationalSystemofUnits(SI)asacomparisonframework.The
systemdefinessevenfundamentalunits:kilogram,metre,candela,second,ampere,kelvin,andmole.Sixof
theseunitsaredefinedwithoutreferencetoaparticularphysicalobjectwhichservesasastandard(artifact
free),withtheexceptionofthekilogramwhichisstillembodiedinanartifactwhichrestsattheBIPMoutside
Paris.
Artifactfreedefinitionsfixmeasurementsatanexactvaluerelatedtoaphysicalconstantorotherinvariable
phenomenainnature,incontrasttostandardartifactswhicharesubjecttodeteriorationordestruction.Instead,
themeasurementunitcanonlyeverchangethroughincreasedaccuracyindeterminingthevalueoftheconstant
itistiedto.
ThefirstproposaltotieanSIbaseunittoanexperimentalstandard
independentoffiatwasbyCharlesSandersPeirce(18391914),[4]
whoproposedtodefinethemetreintermsofthewavelengthofa
spectralline.[5]ThisdirectlyinfluencedtheMichelsonMorley
experimentMichelsonandMorleycitePeirce,andimproveonhis
method.[6]

Standards
Withtheexceptionofafewfundamentalquantumconstants,units
ofmeasurementarederivedfromhistoricalagreements.Nothing
inherentinnaturedictatesthataninchhastobeacertainlength,
northatamileisabettermeasureofdistancethanakilometre.
Overthecourseofhumanhistory,however,firstforconvenience
andthenfornecessity,standardsofmeasurementevolvedsothat
communitieswouldhavecertaincommonbenchmarks.Laws
regulatingmeasurementwereoriginallydevelopedtopreventfraud
incommerce.

ThesevenbaseunitsintheSIsystem.
Arrowspointfromunitstothosethat
dependonthem.

Unitsofmeasurementaregenerallydefinedonascientificbasis,overseenbygovernmentalorindependent
agencies,andestablishedininternationaltreaties,preeminentofwhichistheGeneralConferenceonWeights
andMeasures(CGPM),establishedin1875bytheTreatyofthemetreandwhichoverseestheInternational
SystemofUnits(SI)andwhichhascustodyoftheInternationalPrototypeKilogram.Themetre,forexample,
wasredefinedin1983bytheCGPMasthedistancetraveledbylightinfreespacein,792,458ofasecond
whilein1960theinternationalyardwasdefinedbythegovernmentsoftheUnitedStates,UnitedKingdom,
AustraliaandSouthAfricaasbeingexactly0.9144metres.
IntheUnitedStates,theNationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology(NIST),adivisionoftheUnitedStates
DepartmentofCommerce,regulatescommercialmeasurements.IntheUnitedKingdom,theroleisperformed
bytheNationalPhysicalLaboratory(NPL),inAustraliabytheNationalMeasurementInstitute,[7]inSouth
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AfricabytheCouncilforScientificandIndustrialResearchandinIndiatheNationalPhysicalLaboratoryof
India.

Unitsandsystems
ImperialandUSCustomarysystems
BeforeSIunitswerewidelyadoptedaroundtheworld,theBritishsystemsof
EnglishunitsandlaterimperialunitswereusedinBritain,theCommonwealth
andtheUnitedStates.ThesystemcametobeknownasU.S.customaryunitsin
theUnitedStatesandisstillinusethereandinafewCaribbeancountries.
Thesevarioussystemsofmeasurementhaveattimesbeencalledfootpound
secondsystemsaftertheImperialunitsforlength,weightandtimeeventhough
thetons,hundredweights,gallons,andnauticalmiles,forexample,aredifferent
fortheU.S.units.ManyImperialunitsremaininuseinBritain,whichhas
officiallyswitchedtotheSIsystemwithafewexceptionssuchasroadsigns,
whicharestillinmiles.Draughtbeerandcidermustbesoldbytheimperial
pint,andmilkinreturnablebottlescanbesoldbytheimperialpint.Many
peoplemeasuretheirheightinfeetandinchesandtheirweightinstoneand
pounds,togivejustafewexamples.Imperialunitsareusedinmanyother
places,forexample,inmanyCommonwealthcountriesthatareconsidered
metricated,landareaismeasuredinacresandfloorspaceinsquarefeet,
particularlyforcommercialtransactions(ratherthangovernmentstatistics).
Similarly,gasolineissoldbythegalloninmanycountriesthatareconsidered
metricated.

Ababybottlethatmeasures
inthreemeasurement
systems,Imperial(U.K.),
U.S.customary,andmetric.

Metricsystem
Themetricsystemisadecimalsystemsofmeasurementbasedonitsunitsfor
length,themetreandformass,thekilogram.Itexistsinseveralvariations,with
differentchoicesofbaseunits,thoughthesedonotaffectitsdaytodayuse.
Sincethe1960s,theInternationalSystemofUnits(SI)istheinternationally
recognisedmetricsystem.Metricunitsofmass,length,andelectricityare
widelyusedaroundtheworldforbotheverydayandscientificpurposes.
Themetricsystemfeaturesasinglebaseunitformanyphysicalquantities.
Fourmeasuringdevices
OtherquantitiesarederivedfromthestandardSIunits.Multiplesandfractions
havingmetriccalibrations
oftheunitsareexpressedasPowersof10ofeachunit.Unitconversionsare
alwayssimplebecausetheyareintheratiooften,onehundred,onethousand,
etc.,sothatconvenientmagnitudesformeasurementsareachievedbysimplymovingthedecimalplace:1.234
metresis1234millimetresor0.001234kilometres.Theuseoffractions,suchas2/5ofametre,isnot
prohibited,butuncommon.Alllengthsanddistances,forexample,aremeasuredinmetres,orthousandthsofa
metre(millimetres),orthousandsofmetres(kilometres).Thereisnoprofusionofdifferentunitswithdifferent
conversionfactorsasintheImperialsystemwhichuses,forexample,inches,feet,yards,fathoms,rods.

InternationalSystemofUnits
TheInternationalSystemofUnits(abbreviatedasSIfromtheFrenchlanguagenameSystmeInternational
d'Units)isthemodernrevisionofthemetricsystem.Itistheworld'smostwidelyusedsystemofunits,bothin
everydaycommerceandinscience.TheSIwasdevelopedin1960fromthemetrekilogramsecond(MKS)
system,ratherthanthecentimetregramsecond(CGS)system,which,inturn,hadmanyvariants.Duringits
developmenttheSIalsointroducedseveralnewlynamedunitsthatwerepreviouslynotapartofthemetric
system.TheoriginalSIunitsforthesevenbasicphysicalquantitieswere:[8]
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Base
unit

Basequantity

Symbol

NewSIconstants
(proposed)[9]

CurrentSIconstants

time

second

hyperfinesplittinginCesium133

sameascurrentSI

length

metre

speedoflightinvacuum,c

sameascurrentSI

mass

kilogram kg

massofInternationalPrototypeKilogram
(IPK)

Planck'sconstant,h

electriccurrent

Ampere A

permeabilityoffreespace,permittivityof
freespace

chargeoftheelectron,e

temperature

Kelvin

triplepointofwater,absolutezero

Boltzmann'sconstant,k

amountof
substance

mole

mol

molarmassofCarbon12

AvogadroconstantNA

luminous
intensity

candela

cd

luminousefficacyofa540THzsource

sameascurrentSI

ThemolewassubsequentlyaddedtothislistandthedegreeKelvinrenamedthekelvin.
TherearetwotypesofSIunits,baseunitsandderivedunits.Baseunitsarethesimplemeasurementsfortime,
length,mass,temperature,amountofsubstance,electriccurrentandlightintensity.Derivedunitsare
constructedfromthebaseunits,forexample,theWatt,i.e.theunitforpower,isdefinedfromthebaseunitsas
m2kgs3.Otherphysicalpropertiesmaybemeasuredincompoundunits,suchasmaterialdensity,measured
inkg/m3.
Convertingprefixes
TheSIallowseasymultiplicationwhenswitchingamongunitshavingthesamebasebutdifferentprefixes.To
convertfrommetrestocentimetresitisonlynecessarytomultiplythenumberofmetresby100,sincethereare
100centimetresinametre.Inversely,toswitchfromcentimetrestometresonemultipliesthenumberof
centimetresby0.01ordividecentimetresby100.

Length
Arulerorruleisatoolusedin,forexample,geometry,technical
drawing,engineering,andcarpentry,tomeasurelengthsordistancesor
todrawstraightlines.Strictlyspeaking,theruleristheinstrumentused
torulestraightlinesandthecalibratedinstrumentusedfordetermining
lengthiscalledameasure,howevercommonusagecallsboth
instrumentsrulersandthespecialnamestraightedgeisusedforan
unmarkedrule.Theuseofthewordmeasure,inthesenseofa
measuringinstrument,onlysurvivesinthephrasetapemeasure,an
instrumentthatcanbeusedtomeasurebutcannotbeusedtodraw
straightlines.Ascanbeseeninthephotographsonthispage,atwo
metrecarpenter'srulecanbefoldeddowntoalengthofonly20
centimetres,toeasilyfitinapocket,andafivemetrelongtapemeasure
easilyretractstofitwithinasmallhousing.

A2metrecarpenter'sruler

Somespecialnames
Somenonsystematicnamesareappliedforsomemultiplesofsomeunits.
100kilograms=1quintal1000kilogram=1metrictonne
10years=1decade100years=1century1000years=1millennium
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Buildingtrades
TheAustralianbuildingtradesadoptedthemetricsystemin1966andtheunitsusedformeasurementoflength
aremetres(m)andmillimetres(mm).Centimetres(cm)areavoidedastheycauseconfusionwhenreading
plans.Forexample,thelengthtwoandahalfmetresisusuallyrecordedas2500mmor2.5mitwouldbe
considerednonstandardtorecordthislengthas250cm.[10]

Surveyor'sTrade
AmericansurveyorsuseadecimalbasedsystemofmeasurementdevisedbyEdmundGunterin1620.Thebase
unitisGunter'schainof66feet(20m)whichissubdividedinto4rods,eachof16.5ftor100linksof0.66feet.
Alinkisabbreviated"lk,"andlinks"lks"inolddeedsandLandSurveysdoneforthegovernment.

Time
Timeisanabstractmeasurementofelementalchangesoveranonspatialcontinuum.Itisdenotedbynumbers
and/ornamedperiodssuchashours,days,weeks,monthsandyears.Itisanapparentlyirreversibleseriesof
occurrenceswithinthisnonspatialcontinuum.Itisalsousedtodenoteanintervalbetweentworelativepoints
onthiscontinuum.

Mass
Massreferstotheintrinsicpropertyofallmaterialobjectstoresistchangesintheirmomentum.Weight,onthe
otherhand,referstothedownwardforceproducedwhenamassisinagravitationalfield.Infreefall,(nonet
gravitationalforces)objectslackweightbutretaintheirmass.TheImperialunitsofmassincludetheounce,
pound,andton.Themetricunitsgramandkilogramareunitsofmass.
Onedeviceformeasuringweightormassiscalledaweighingscaleor,often,simplyascale.Aspringscale
measuresforcebutnotmass,abalancecomparesweight,bothrequireagravitationalfieldtooperate.Someof
themostaccurateinstrumentsformeasuringweightormassarebasedonloadcellswithadigitalreadout,but
requireagravitationalfieldtofunctionandwouldnotworkinfreefall.

Economics
Themeasuresusedineconomicsarephysicalmeasures,nominalpricevaluemeasuresandrealpricemeasures.
Thesemeasuresdifferfromoneanotherbythevariablestheymeasureandbythevariablesexcludedfrom
measurements.

Difficulties
Sinceaccuratemeasurementisessentialinmanyfields,andsinceallmeasurementsarenecessarily
approximations,agreatdealofeffortmustbetakentomakemeasurementsasaccurateaspossible.For
example,considertheproblemofmeasuringthetimeittakesanobjecttofalladistanceofonemetre(about
39in).Usingphysics,itcanbeshownthat,inthegravitationalfieldoftheEarth,itshouldtakeanyobjectabout
0.45secondtofallonemetre.However,thefollowingarejustsomeofthesourcesoferrorthatarise:
Thiscomputationusedfortheaccelerationofgravity9.8metrespersecondsquared(32ft/s2).Butthis
measurementisnotexact,butonlyprecisetotwosignificantdigits.
TheEarth'sgravitationalfieldvariesslightlydependingonheightabovesealevelandotherfactors.
Thecomputationof.45secondsinvolvedextractingasquareroot,amathematicaloperationthatrequired
roundingofftosomenumberofsignificantdigits,inthiscasetwosignificantdigits.
Additionally,othersourcesofexperimentalerrorinclude:
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carelessness,
determiningoftheexacttimeatwhichtheobjectisreleasedandtheexacttimeithitstheground,
measurementoftheheightandthemeasurementofthetimebothinvolvesomeerror,
Airresistance.
Scientificexperimentsmustbecarriedoutwithgreatcaretoeliminateasmucherroraspossible,andtokeep
errorestimatesrealistic.

Definitionsandtheories
Classicaldefinition
Intheclassicaldefinition,whichisstandardthroughoutthephysicalsciences,measurementisthedetermination
orestimationofratiosofquantities.[11]Quantityandmeasurementaremutuallydefined:quantitativeattributes
arethosepossibletomeasure,atleastinprinciple.TheclassicalconceptofquantitycanbetracedbacktoJohn
WallisandIsaacNewton,andwasforeshadowedinEuclid'sElements.[11]

Representationaltheory
Intherepresentationaltheory,measurementisdefinedas"thecorrelationofnumberswithentitiesthatarenot
numbers".[12]Themosttechnicallyelaborateformofrepresentationaltheoryisalsoknownasadditiveconjoint
measurement.Inthisformofrepresentationaltheory,numbersareassignedbasedoncorrespondencesor
similaritiesbetweenthestructureofnumbersystemsandthestructureofqualitativesystems.Apropertyis
quantitativeifsuchstructuralsimilaritiescanbeestablished.Inweakerformsofrepresentationaltheory,suchas
thatimplicitwithintheworkofStanleySmithStevens,[13]numbersneedonlybeassignedaccordingtoarule.
Theconceptofmeasurementisoftenmisunderstoodasmerelytheassignmentofavalue,butitispossibleto
assignavalueinawaythatisnotameasurementintermsoftherequirementsofadditiveconjoint
measurement.Onemayassignavaluetoaperson'sheight,butunlessitcanbeestablishedthatthereisa
correlationbetweenmeasurementsofheightandempiricalrelations,itisnotameasurementaccordingto
additiveconjointmeasurementtheory.Likewise,computingandassigningarbitraryvalues,likethe"book
value"ofanassetinaccounting,isnotameasurementbecauseitdoesnotsatisfythenecessarycriteria.

Informationtheory
Informationtheoryrecognisesthatalldataareinexactandstatisticalinnature.Thusthedefinitionof
measurementis:"Asetofobservationsthatreduceuncertaintywheretheresultisexpressedasaquantity."[14]
Thisdefinitionisimpliedinwhatscientistsactuallydowhentheymeasuresomethingandreportboththemean
andstatisticsofthemeasurements.Inpracticalterms,onebeginswithaninitialguessastotheexpectedvalue
ofaquantity,andthen,usingvariousmethodsandinstruments,reducestheuncertaintyinthevalue.Notethat
inthisview,unlikethepositivistrepresentationaltheory,allmeasurementsareuncertain,soinsteadofassigning
onevalue,arangeofvaluesisassignedtoameasurement.Thisalsoimpliesthatthereisnotaclearorneat
distinctionbetweenestimationandmeasurement.

Quantummechanics
Inquantummechanics,ameasurementisanactionthatdeterminesaparticularproperty(position,momentum,
energy,etc.)ofaquantumsystem.Beforeameasurementismade,aquantumsystemissimultaneously
describedbyallvaluesinaspectrum,orrange,ofpossiblevalues,wheretheprobabilityofmeasuringeach
valueisdeterminedbythewavefunctionofthesystem.Whenameasurementisperformed,thewavefunctionof
thequantumsystem"collapses"toasingle,definitevalue.[15]Theunambiguousmeaningofthemeasurement
problemisanunresolvedfundamentalprobleminquantummechanics.
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Seealso
Airypoints
Conversionofunits
Detectionlimit
Differentiallinearity
Dimensionalanalysis
Dimensionlessnumber
Econometrics
Electricalmeasurements
Historyofmeasurement
Historyofscienceandtechnology
ISO10012,Measurementmanagementsystems
Instrumentation
Integrallinearity
Keyrelevanceinlocksmithing
Leastcount
Levelsofmeasurement
Measurementinquantummechanics
Measuringinstrument
NCSLInternational
Numbersense
Observation
Observablequantity

Observablequantity
Ordersofmagnitude
Primaryinstrument
Psychometrics
Quantification(science)
Standard(metrology)
Statistics
Systemsofmeasurement
Testmethod
Timelineoftemperatureandpressure
measurementtechnology
Timelineoftimemeasurementtechnology
Unitsofmeasurement
Uncertaintyprinciple
Measurementuncertainty
Virtualinstrumentation
Webanalytics
Weightsandmeasures
Listofunusualunitsofmeasurement
Listofhumorousunitsofmeasurement

References
1.Pedhazur,ElazarJ.Schmelkin,LioraPedhazur(1991).Measurement,Design,andAnalysis:AnIntegratedApproach
(1sted.).Hillsdale,NJ:LawrenceErlbaumAssociates.pp.1529.ISBN0805810633.
2.InternationalVocabularyofMetrologyBasicandGeneralConceptsandAssociatedTerms(VIM)(PDF)(3rded.).
InternationalBureauofWeightsandMeasures.2008.p.16.
3.Kirch,Wilhelm,ed.(2008)."Levelofmeasurement".EncyclopediaofPublicHealth.2.Springer.p.81.ISBN0321
021061.
4.Crease2011,pp.1824
5.C.S.Peirce(July1879)"NoteontheProgressofExperimentsforComparingaWavelengthwithaMetre"American
JournalofScience,asreferencedbyCrease2011,p.203
6.Crease2011,p.203
7.http://www.measurement.gov.au/Pages/about.aspx
8.InternationalBureauofWeightsandMeasures(2006),TheInternationalSystemofUnits(SI)(PDF)(8thed.),p.147,
ISBN9282222136
9.Crease2011,p.261
10.Naughtin,Pat(2007)."Whatismetrication"(PDF).PatNaugthin.pp.4,5.Retrieved13June2013.
11.Michell,J.(1999).Measurementinpsychology:acriticalhistoryofamethodologicalconcept.NewYork:Cambridge
UniversityPress.
12.ErnestNagel:"Measurement",Erkenntnis,Volume2,Number1/December1931,pp.313335,publishedby
Springer,theNetherlands
13.Stevens,S.S.Onthetheoryofscalesandmeasurement1946.Science.103,677680.
14.DouglasHubbard:"HowtoMeasureAnything",Wiley(2007),p.21
15.Penrose,Roger(2007).Theroadtoreality:acompleteguidetothelawsoftheuniverse.NewYork:VintageBooks.
ISBN9780679776314."ThejumpingofthequantumstatetooneoftheeigenstatesofQistheprocessreferredto
asstatevectorreductionorcollapseofthewavefunction.Itisoneofquantumtheory'smostpuzzlingfeatures...""
[T]hewayinwhichquantummechanicsisusedinpracticeistotakethestateindeedtojumpinthiscuriousway
wheneverameasurementisdeemedtotakeplace."p528LaterChapter29isentitledtheMeasurementparadox.

Externallinks
ADictionaryofUnitsofMeasurement(http://www.unc.edu/~row
lett/units/index.html)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement

Lookupmeasurementin
Wiktionary,thefree
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'Metrologyinshort'3rdedition,July2008ISBN97887
98815457(http://www.euramet.org/index.php?id=mis)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Measurement&oldid=741858743"

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