Measurement

Measurement isdetermination ofsize or magnitudesomething. Measurementnot limitedphysical quantities, but can extendquantifying almost any imaginablesuch as degreeuncertainty, consumer confidence, orrateincrease infall inpricebeanie babies.

• "A measurement iscomparison tostandard." -- William Shockley

In physicsengineering, measurement isprocesscomparing physical quantitiesreal-world objectsevents. Established standard objectseventsused as units, andmeasurement resultsat least two numbers forrelationship betweenitem under study andreferenced unitmeasurement, where at least one number estimatesstatistical uncertainty inmeasurement. Measuring instruments aremeans by which this translationmade.

Metrology isstudymeasurement.

A metric isstandardmeasurement. The quantificationphenomena throughprocessmeasurement relies onexistencean explicit or implicit metric, which isstandardwhichmeasurereferenced. If I say I am '5', I am indicatingmeasurement without conveying an applicable standard. I may mean I am 5 years old, 5 feet high, or 5-time world raquetball champion.

Measuring physical quantities accuratelyimportantscience, engineeringcommerce.

For example,unitlength might bewell-known person's foot, andlength ofboat can be given asnumbertimes that person's foot would fitlength ofboat.

Lawsregulate measurement were originally developedprevent fraud. However, unitsmeasurementnow generally defined onscientific basis, andestablished by international treaties.

The historymeasurements istopic withinHistoryScienceTechnology. The meter was standardized asunitlength afterFrench revolution,has since been adopted throughout most ofworld. The United States andUKinprocessconverting toSI system. This processknown as metrication.

Systemsmeasurement:

• Imperial units
• SI system, also known asmetric system
• Chinese units

Measuringratios between physical quantitiesan important sub-fieldphysics.

Some important physical quantities include:

• speedlight
• fine-structure constant
• chargean electron

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In economics,unitaccount isbasismeasuringmarket.

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See also:

• Weightsmeasures
• Historical weightsmeasures
• Timelinetime measurement technology
• Timelinetemperaturepressure measurement technology
• Dimensional analysis
• Dimensionless number
• conversionunits
• ordersmagnitude
• league

External Links

• ThereA DictionaryUnitsMeasurementall kinds at http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html