1.

Reading a Micro meter Screw gauge

Each division on the main scale represents 0.5 mm. Each division on the micro meter scale
represents 0.01 mm.

To read the micro meter, you first read the number of divisions on the main scale. The
figure above reads 8.5 mm. You then add the value on the micro meter scale which lines
up with the axis on the main scale. The micro meter scale read 0.15 mm.
The total is 8.5 + 0.15 = 8.65 mm.

The uncertainty is given by half the smallest measurement possible. In the case of a micro
meter, the smallest measurement is 0.01 mm, so the uncertainty is ±0.005 mm. However,
as this is a single measurement you must report the uncertainty to the same decimal place
as your final measurement,
so we report it as 8.65 ± 0.01 mm.

On a ruler, the uncertainty in each measurement is ±0.5 mm, but since you measure
positions on two sides and the length is in fact the difference between two positions, we
add the errors from both sides, we end up with a reported uncertainty as ±1 mm. As this
value is in the same number of decimal points as the measurement from a ruler, we do
not need to make any rounding up.