Ensuring accuracy of weights and measurements
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 - 10:00
in Psychology & Sociology
Americans rely on many measurements of mass and volume in their daily lives, from weighing broccoli at the grocery store to putting gas in the family car. In order to ensure both consumer confidence and uniformity in commerce, the accuracy of the devices used in those measurements must be tested at regular intervals. The degree of accuracy achieved, in turn, ultimately depends on the competence of the metrologists who calibrate over 350,000 measurement standards per year that are then used by weights and measures officials when testing measuring instruments.