What is Measurement: Definition and 1000 Discussions

Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. The scope and application of measurement are dependent on the context and discipline. In natural sciences and engineering, measurements do not apply to nominal properties of objects or events, which is consistent with the guidelines of the International vocabulary of metrology published by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. However, in other fields such as statistics as well as the social and behavioural sciences, measurements can have multiple levels, which would include nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales.Measurement is a cornerstone of trade, science, technology and quantitative research in many disciplines. Historically, many measurement systems existed for the varied fields of human existence to facilitate comparisons in these fields. Often these were achieved by local agreements between trading partners or collaborators. Since the 18th century, developments progressed towards unifying, widely accepted standards that resulted in the modern International System of Units (SI). This system reduces all physical measurements to a mathematical combination of seven base units. The science of measurement is pursued in the field of metrology.

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  1. F

    Medical Cuffles blood pressure measurement regression equation

    Has anyone tried to apply the following regression equation appeared in the paper "Continuous measurement of systolic blood pressure using the PTT and other parameters" (Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 27th Annual Conference Shanghai, China, September 1-4, 2005)...
  2. F

    Flow Measurement - Pitot Static Tubes Bernoulli's Equation etc.?

    A Pitot-static tube connected to water manometer is used to measure the velocity of air. If the deflection between the two arms of the manometer is 12.4cm, determine the air velocity when the density of air is 1.25kgm-3 and the density of the water in the manometer is 1000kg/m3. I am not...
  3. N

    How Do Observation and Measurement Differ in Quantum Experiments?

    What is the difference between observation and measurement in reference to a quantum experiment?
  4. andrewkirk

    Can making a measurement change subsequent measurements?

    Consider an experiment in which a closed box is set up with a system inside that is initialised at time t=0 with state psi(0). A measurement of quantity w of the box’s contents is made at time T, that is observed by scientist S1. There is another scientist S2 that can, by pressing a button...
  5. A

    Calculating Uncertainty in Spring Period Measurement

    I want to calculate the uncertainty in the period for a spring, when I have measured the extension of it under the influence of gravity. Call that x and say I got: x=0.10m ± 0.01 And we know that: T = 2∏√(x/g) Is it then correct to use the following formula for the uncertainty σT: σT =...
  6. N

    Exploring the Mystery of Observation and Measurement in Quantum Mechanics

    what is the difference between observation and measurement in reference to quantum mechanics?
  7. L

    Measurement of Temperature question.

    A mercury thermometer with only the 0 degree Celsius and 100 degree Celsius markings on it was given to a student, and the student was asked to use it to estimate the temperature of a block of ice cream. I'm not sure, because the scale stops at 0 and mostly likely the temperature of ice...
  8. B

    Is superposition dependant on the measurement of sound as well as sight?

    I understand that an object can exist in many possible locations, and that when you're not looking, it is a wave. It's only when you look that it manifests itself into a particle. But Is that also dependent on the measurement of sound? Does an object materialize when you hear it, or feel a force...
  9. B

    Measuring Laser Drilled Hole Diameter in Ceramic Specimens

    I have laser drilled hole thin ceramic specimens and I am required to measure the diameter of the holes. Suggest me some methods.
  10. A

    How accurate is pulse width as a measure of response time for a pin photodiode?

    For a pin photodiode, risetime=bandwidth/0.35 i get ~3ns for s5973 will it be affecting the measurement of 10ns laser pulse? How can i reduce the rise time?
  11. Z

    Minimum Time Delay for Communicating with Astronaut on Moon: 2.5s

    In communicating with an astronaut on the moon, 3.8x10^8 m from earth, what is the minimum time delay in getting a response to a question? The answer in the book is given as 2.5 seconds.Have they simply used; ( (3.8x10^8) / c ) x 2
  12. C

    Transfer function of flow measurement system HELP

    Transfer function of flow measurement system HELP! 1. I have attached the question, which is to derive the transfer function of a volumetric flow measurement system... 2. I know of the following relevant equations: F = Ma = MD^2.x Flow f = area x velocity and f through a...
  13. S

    Measuring Distance on a Cylinder - Ideas & Opinions Wanted

    Hi all I have assigned a task to measure distance at two points separated 200 mm apart on a cylinder having diameter about 300 mm dia. The distance from point and measuring point will be 150 mm and that of for second point will be 150.05mm.I have an idea of using two lasers mounted 200 mm...
  14. facenian

    Velocity Measurement in Quantum Mechanics

    How can velocity be measured in quantum mechanics since one can not measeure position without disturbing the particle?
  15. L

    Layman's questions regarding Measurement Problem

    Not sure if anyone will be able to answer these questions but it would be good if someone would give it a shot. A friend recently explained the measurement problem to me and i thought of a few questions which he was not able to answer. A) Do animals count as observers, and can they cause...
  16. StevieTNZ

    Can Measurements Determine Pure vs. Mixture Ensembles in Quantum Theory?

    Just trying to follow Giancarlo Ghirardi reasoning in his book about differentiating between pure and mixture esembles. Is it possible to perform a measurement on an observable that, if it were in a superposition, a certain value would return?
  17. Ranger Mike

    CNC Coordinate Measurement Machine Controller

    Question - Regarding a cnc cmm controller, What is tunneling? How is this measured? What impact does the cmm structure have on this characteristic?
  18. ¡

    RF Distance Measurement Techniques (ToF+Interferometry)

    I am trying to design a system to measure the distance between two RF transceivers with as small of a resolution as possible. Time-of-flight measurement is nice and easy to do, but it has a poor resolution with low frequency timers. I am thinking of using a low-cost mcu that will probably have a...
  19. L

    Alternative to Gardner Tube Viscosity Measurement

    I am currently using garder tubes to measure the viscosity of a material (mainly adhesives and some wax) in the process of manufacturing Newtonian as well as non-Newtonian materials. I am looking for an alternative method that is less qualatative in an attempt to decrease the defects per...
  20. N

    Laser Measurement Repeatability on Various Surfaces

    Hello Everyone, Here is my situation: I am using a laser to take distance (height) measurements on a variety of surface types (e.g. mirror, machined surface, plastic, etc.) and I would like to quantify the repeatability of the laser measurements on each surface type. Please note that I care...
  21. P

    Basic question about measurement of thin film by means of spectral reflectance

    Hallo alle users, as the title indicates, I have a question about measurement of thin film thickness by means of spectral reflectance. Given, the to be measured thin film has thickness less than 600 nm, but the measuring light has only wavelengh larger than 600 nm. Does it mean, that the...
  22. M

    Temperature measurement in a room

    I came up with something to think about while freezing in my room... How can one measure the temperature in a room withought traditional termometer. Alternative formulation of the question - is it posible to construct a termometer that would measure such temperatures as are measured in a...
  23. M

    Scientific measurement standards

    This is not a question about relativity per se, but relates to it sufficiently I hope. Standard values for many scientific constants are defined, and ideally in the most universal way possible. For example, the standard length unit, a meter, is defined with respect to the distance light travels...
  24. G

    How is spin rotation measured?

    Hello all, In the following article I found through google, they explain how spin is measured: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Is-Quantum-Mechanics-So-Weird-40009.shtml I understand how the Stern-Gerlach experiment works, but the article doesn't go into much detail about the next...
  25. S

    Exploring Hubble's Constant: Measurement Improvements

    Why is the modern value of Hubble's constant so different from today's measured value? At first I thought it was because the Hubble constant is related to density via: ρ_c = 3H^2/(8*π*G) but in the past 2011 - 1921 = 90 years, I don't think the density could have changed that much since...
  26. S.Daedalus

    Question about measurement and unitary dynamics

    This is a question that's been in the back of my mind since I first learned quantum mechanics. There seems to me to be some tension between the postulates of unitary evolution and state reduction upon measurement: basically, any quantum system ought to evolve unitarily; so in principle, every...
  27. M

    How to correct for random measurement error?

    I am building an iPhone app where the iPhone is just going to sit on my desk measuring the distance to Earth's core. I will build a calibration function into my app to reduce the variation in the estimate. How, then, should I go about calibrating it?
  28. StevieTNZ

    Schrodinger's Equation & Measurement

    Hi there, Ok, so if you know the interactions, etc., you can calculate from time0 the probabilities for certain results at say time8. But say, however, we perform a measurement before time8. Will the original predictions for time8 still hold if a measurement is performed prior to that...
  29. J

    Measurement disturbs the system.

    "Measurement disturbs the system." Okay so I explained the uncertainty principle to my non-scientist friend, and he came up with a basic thought experiment. I know there is something wrong with it, so I read paragraph 8 from here: http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/dstyer/TeachQM/misconnzz.pdf...
  30. D

    Flow rate measurement: Venturi vs Sharp edged circular orifice. Help

    Flow rate measurement: Venturi vs Sharp edged circular orifice. Help! :) Homework Statement Hello guys, I am having trouble answering these questions. I know the the discharge coefficient for a venturi is always higher than that of the sharp edge orifice. Can you guys help me out with the...
  31. M

    Predicting adult height given current height, age and growth plate measurement

    I went to see an orthopedic specialist this year, when I was 15 years and 5 months old. I am 5 ft, 11 1/4 in. The specialist looked at my then-recent X-rays and I was not even halfway done growing. (I'm pretty sure I scored a 2 out of 5.) I am due for another X-ray sometime next year, at...
  32. A

    Measurement of e/m for electrons question

    Homework Statement Using Equations (A) and (B) explain how to obtain for e/m from the slope of an I vs. \sqrt{V}/{r} graph. Show how to calculate a value for the Earth's magnetic field BE using the intercept of the graph.Homework Equations (A) B_H = \frac{8NI \mu_0}{R \sqrt{125}} (B)...
  33. jfy4

    Momentum Measurement Confusion

    Hi everyone, I was thinking about what it means to talk about the "momentum of a particle" and I tried to come up with a little scheme to help me, but as of now it has only made more confusion... This is how my thoughts went. I know from quantum mechanics can one can relate classical...
  34. N

    What is a position measurement?

    Hello, To let you know where I stand, I am aware of the formal quantum theory (Hilbert space formulation). As you know, it states that an observable is an operator, and that's fine. My question is the following: what is the concrete realization of a measuring apparatus? The theory says...
  35. turbo

    CERN team claims measurement of neutrino speed >c

    Edit: Before posting in this thread, we'd like to ask readers to read three things: The https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=414380". Don't forget the section on overly speculative posts. The paper http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.4897" The previous posts in this thread And...
  36. U

    Any examples of real-time energy measurement in homes?

    Any examples of real-time energy measurement in homes? Hi :-) My professor told me that he thinks that if people are made more aware of the energy they consume in each action they perform (e.g the amt of electrical energy consumed by heating the stove for 15 mins..and such day to day...
  37. L

    Is inner product a measurement in quantum computation?

    Hams and Raedt gave a quantum computational algorithm to calculate the density of states of a spin system. Starting with an initial random state, they obtain the time evolution of the state. Later they take the inner product of the evolved state with the initial state. How does the inner...
  38. J

    Measurement in quantum mechanics problem

    Hi all, In our assignment, we were given this question: [PLAIN]http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/4854/prob213.png I know that for (a), the answer is the first energy eigenstate since the measured energy corresponds to it. I'm not sure about the situation in (b), though. Does...
  39. M

    QM Measurement: Randomness Explained

    Hi, In QM, when we make a measurement, our wavefunction collapses into one of the eigenstates of the operator. This process is supposed to be random for any single measurement but obeys some statistics if we make a large number of measurements. Could someone explain how we know that it is...
  40. L

    Measurement of (brightness of) double slit experiment

    Hi, I think that this is (should be) a straight forward question: when conducting the double slit experiment, is there a relationship between the brightness / measure of the light source and the sum of the "peaks" from the interference pattern? (I have done a number of searches but can't find...
  41. D

    Current mirrors, low current measurement

    Does anyone know of a good textbook that would go in depth on current mirror circuits? What about methods and information on measuring low currents? My sedra and smith book does not talk anything about these subjects in detail.
  42. W

    How are ultra cold temperatures measured?

    How are ultra cold temperatures measured? For example, sometimes I see things measured in nanoKelvins. I'm thinking there has to be direct contact since the vacuum is already hotter than this, but how is it actually done?
  43. M

    Heat conductance and temp measurement

    Homework Statement i'm trying to find out how to model a system consisting of a body at a finite temperature, connected to a heat conducting rod that is lagged (see scanned image) and a thermometer (or any other temp measurement device), what would i take into account while modelling this...
  44. C

    Measurement of capacitance of dielectric film using front contants

    Hi, I have deposited a film of dielectric on SiO2 substrate. Then, deposited metal dots on the top of dielectric film to measure electrical properties. I want to measure capacitance using metal dots on the top of dielectric. Since I have SiO2 as a substrate, I can not make a parallel plate...
  45. C

    Measurement of capacitance of dielectric film using front contants

    Hi, I have deposited a film of dielectric on SiO2 substrate. Then, deposited metal dots on the top of dielectric film to measure electrical properties. I want to measure capacitance using metal dots on the top of dielectric. Since I have SiO2 as a substrate, I can not make a parallel...
  46. BWV

    Quantum Particle Momentum Measurement: Theoretical and Practical Considerations

    Is it possible, practically or theoretically to measure the momentum of a quantum particle without altering the momentum? (the only real world tests I have read about involve collisions with other particles) If so, what would be result of a measurement of momentum have if interjected between...
  47. A

    Conservation of energy after measurement

    Is conservation of energy, momentum, and other physical properties absolutely true in quantum mechanics, or only on average? As an example, think of a single particle in free space. Measure its energy, and write down the result. Then look at where it is, and measure the energy again. You'll...
  48. D

    Best pressure measurement

    I wondered how you can measure (static) pressure, with an as high as possible accuracy. Could you share your experience about which sensor and setup you allready used? I would like to measure the static pressure before and after a fan with an accuracy of 10[Pa]. Do you think this is possible?
  49. D

    Best way to hold an object for measurement using multimeter?

    What is the best way to hold it against multimeter sharp probes? The component is quite small and i want to avoid inaccurate result due to my hands holding it / placing it on the bench top
  50. R

    Meteorology - Rainfall measurement

    Hello, I wasn't sure exactly where to put this thread. Figured this was the most relevant section. Anyway, I wanted to know what exactly do meteorologists mean when they say that a region will receive 5mm or 10mm of rain during the evening. I read this wiki page...
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