HISTORY OF MEASUREMENT

The earliest records of standard measurement usage date back about

6000 B.C in Egypt. Early measurements of length were based on the parts of
the human body or on natural elements such as the size of the plant seeds.
The cubit, from the point of the elbow to the outstretched tip of the middle
finger, was the major measurement for the length. The palm was about one-
sixth of the cubit. The human foot was about two thirds of a cubit, or four
palms. These measurement values were used for contractions and trading.

The movement of the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies measured
time. The volume of containers was determined by the number of plant seed
or stones that they could hold. Each country developed his own measurement
system.

The need for world wide, uniform measurement system was

recognized almost 300 years ago. In 1970 the National assembly of France
asked the Academy of Science to “deduce an invariable standard for all
measures and weight”. The Academy Commission developed a measure of
length called a meter. This name came from the Greek word metron, meaning
“a measure “. From this word we also get the metric system.

The meter was defined as one ten-millionth the distance from the North
Pole to the Equator, measured along the a meridian line passing through
Paris, France.

The metric system was designed as a decimal system; multiplying or

dividing multiples of ten created larger or smaller units. This feature eliminated
the for awkward calculations such as dividing by 16 (to convert ounces to
pounds) or by 12 (to convert inches to feet)
 MEASUREMENT

Measurement - is an act or process of determining dimensions, capacity or a amount

of something.

Old System of Measurement

In the past, man did not have standard units of measurement like we have today.
Hence, magnitudes (sizes, dimensions etc.) were relative. Length for example, was based on
the most convenient means – the dimension of man himself. Some of the early and most
commonly used units for length are the following: (These units are obsolete for science and
technology use but are still in use in some rural areas).

 DIGIT – is the breadth of the finger. Today this unit corresponds to ¾ of an inch or
about 2.5 centimeters. The term digit comes from the Latin word “digitus” which means
finger.

 HAND SPAN – is the distance from the end of the thumb to the end of the little finger
when the hand is equivalent to 9 inches or about 23 centimeters.

 HAND – is the width of the hand when the finger are closely kept side by side. The hand
was popularly used for measuring height of horses. It is equivalent to 4 inches or about 10
centimeters. The hand was and is still in use in some European countries. It is a unit of
linear measure to determine the height of a horse from the ground to its shoulder.

 HUMAN SPAN – this is the distance from finger tip to finger tip of a fully out stretched
hand. This unit was often and is still used for determining the circumference of tree
trunks.

 CUBIT – this is distance from the elbow to the tip of the finger with open and stretched
hands.

 INCH – started as a width of a thumb. However, due to differences in the widths of

thumbs of different person, there often were confusion traders. To avoid the confusion,
KING EDWARD II of England proclaimed in the 14 th century that “the length of the inch
shall be equal to three grains of barley dry and round placed and to end lengthwise.
 FOOT – is the distance from the heel to the toes. It has always been a very common
name. The 12 inches foot that we use today is standard only in the Philippines, the United
State, England and other English – speaking countries. In other places, a foot may be any
length from 11 to 14 inches.

 PACE – is another common measure for length. It was the length of a double step
counted from the time one foot left the ground until it was put down a second time. One
pace (2 steps) is equivalent to 5 feet. Now we measure a pace as 2 1/2 feet or 3 feet, the
length of a single pace or one step.

 MILE – was a thousand paces of a Roman soldier. It comes from the Latin word “Mile”
which means one thousand. The modern mile is a little longer than one thousand paces
of the Roman soldier.

 YARD – was the length of the girdle worn by the ANGLO – SAXONS of Northern
Europe. In southern countries, it was equivalent to two cubits (a cubit is the distance from
the elbow to the tip of the middle finger of the straightened hand and is equivalent to 18
inches today). At the beginning of the twelfth century as the story was told KING HENRY I
of England fixed the yard as the distance between his nose and the thumb of his
outstretched arm.
 UNIT – is the value, or quantity, or size of the weight or measure by which the values,
or quantities, or sizes of other weight or measures that are fixed. A GIVEN IS A
BECAUSE THE LAW SAYS SO. A foot equals 12 inches and a kilometer equals
1000 meters because the law says so.

STANDARD – is the actual physical reproduction of a unit. For example, the meter
is a unit but the standard meter is a bar, made of platinum and iridium exactly
39.37 inches long.

The standard yard is a bronze bar with 2 fines lines engraved exactly 36 inches apart on gold

studs set in the bar. All yards must be measured according to this standard .

A unit be divided into any one of the following:

 Decimally – which means that the unit is divided into ten equal smaller sub-units.
This was introduced by the Chinese and the Egyptians.

 Duodecimally – which means that the unit is divided into 12 equal sub-units. This
method was used by the Romans. They divided the foot (pes) into 12 inches, the
pound into 12 ounces and the year into 12 months.

 Binary or into Halves – which means that the unit is divided into halves then
quarters, then eighths, then sixteenths and so on. This was done by the Hindus. The
inch for example is binary divided.

 Sexagecimally – which means the unit is divided into sixty divisions. This was
used by the Ancient Babylonians. The hour for example is divided into 60 minutes
and a minute into 60 seconds. Circles are divided in this manner.
 There are two popular system of measurement in use today:

The English system

The standard units are foot for length, pound for weight and fahrenheit
for temperature. Other units of length in the English System are the yard and
the mile. The English units for length are not easily adapted because they
were based on dimensions of man and its units are divided binarily,
sexagecimally, and duodecimally.
The unit of length in the inch system is the inch, which may be divided
into fractional or decimal fraction division. The fractional system is based on
the binary system or base 2. The binary fractions commonly used in this
system are ½, ¼, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32. and 1/64. The decimal fraction system has
base 10, s any number may be written as a product of ten

1
32
8 16 24 32 40 48 56 1
1
64

1 1 3 1 5 3 7 16
8 4 8 2 8 4 8 16
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16

Metric system

Linear metric dimensions are expressed in multiples and submultiples

of the meter. In the machine tool trade, the millimeter is used to express most
metric dimensions.
Basic Measurement

The first essential skill a machinist should learn is to measure accurately to the
demands of the project. An inaccurate measurement can result in wastage of materials, effort
and time. Hence, learning to measure with accuracy is a must.

Currently, two system of measurement is used throughout the world: The METRIC SYSTEM
and the ENGLISH SYSTEM. Between the two, the metric system is the more practical one, hence, the
Philippines adapted this for implementations many years ago. The change however, can not take place
instantly since some still used the English system.

Do you know where the English System and the metric system came
from?

I hereby declare
this as the standard 1 foot (ft) = 12” (inches)
units!
The English System
1 yard = 3 feet
An English king standardizes the unit used in
the English system; the basis of the units in the = 36 inches
English system came from the body parts of an
1 rod = 16 ½ inches
English king. These units are the inch, foot, yard and
mile. Now lets look at the table of the English = 5 ½ yards
conversion

The Metric System

If you remember your history, the French has a feud against the English, so they
created their own system of measurement. In 1971, a group of scientist gathered in Paris and
created the metric system They based the unit of the measurement on earth’s dimension and
follow the decimal system of measurement, and that is by tens. Lets look at the table of Metric
conversion table below!

No to English!
100 millimeter (mm) = 1 decimeter (dc)


1centimeters (cm) = 10 millimeter (mm)
10 centimeters (cm) = 1 decimeters (dc)
1000 millimeters (mm) = 1 meter (m)
 Since both system of measurement are used on today’s industries there are
instances that we need to convert some measurement to the desired or standard
unit. So it is important for a machinist to know how to convert both system of
measurements.

Let’s try converting English and metric measurements

Let’s convert 24 inches to feet Let’s convert 12 cm to mm

1 ft. = 12 inches 1 cm = 10 mm
24 inches = 1 ft. = 2 feet 12 cm = 10 mm = 120 mm
12 inches 1 cm

Try to convert these examples:

1. 8 meter to centimeter
2. 20 decimeter to millimeter
3. 23 yard to feet
4. 4 feet to inches

Converting English to Metric and Metric to English

Some countries like Japan they used commonly the metric system and the U.S the English
system. Having two systems of measurements, there are instances that we need to convert a given
length to a given standard. As if, converting an English unit to metric units or vice-versa. To do this, we
refer to table of conversions below:

Converting Metric to English Converting English to Metric

1 mm = 0.03937 inch
1 inches = 2.54centimeter
1 cm = 0.3937 inch
= 25.4 millimeter
= 0.0328 feet
1 feet = 30.48 centimeter
1 meter = 39.37 inches
= 0.03048 meter
= 3.2808 feet
How to convert? Look on these examples!

Let’s convert 10 mm to inch Let’s convert 13 inches to cm

1mm = 0.03937 inch 1 inch = 25.4 mm
10 mm x 0.03937 inch = 0. 0.3937inch 13 inches x 25.4 mm = 33.02 mm
1 mm 1 inch

Now try to answer these exercises!

1. 15 inches to centimeters
2. 9 yard to meter
3. 25 millimeter to inch
4. 3 meter to feet
Measuring and checking

Measuring means, to compare an unknown dimension with a measuring unit

contained in a scale of a measuring instrument for the purpose to obtain the actual
size as well as the possible dimension from the nominal size.

Checking means, to inspect a work piece regarding the set up of the requirements
such as color, evenness, smoothness, perpendicularity, but without determination of
an actual size or a possible deviation.

Rules for Measuring and Checking

1. Always select the most suitable measuring tool in accordance with accuracy
required.
2. Measuring and checking tools are to be protected from rust, dirt and damage.
3. Always pay attention to the use of correct measuring force.
4. When taking measurements make sure that the surfaces of instruments and
workpiece are perfectly clean.
5. Never try to correct or repair inaccurate instruments yourself.
6. Taking measurements on moving parts is strictly prohibited. (Danger of accident
as well as damage of the instrument)
7. Protect measuring instrument from heat as well as cold.
8. When reading measuring instruments look always vertically down to the scale
where the measurement appears. This avoids what is called parallax.
9. Magnetized workpiece must be demagnetized before taking measurements to
prevent magnetization of the instrument.
10. Clean the instruments carefully before and after use and apply an acid-free
grease or oil before storing them in a clean and dry place.
 MEASURING AND CHECKING

Length measuring: Angle measuring: Time measuring:

Comparing with a Comparing with a known Comparing with a known
known unit of length unit of angle unit of time

Unit of length meter Unit of angle degree Unit of time second,

and inch minute, hour

DIRECT READING:

TOOLS: Adjustable and to be read directly

(Vernier and micrometer caliper, protractor, ruler)

RESULT: Actual size

INDERECTLY READING:

TOOLS:
Transferring tools (caliper, sliding bevel)
Setting tools (dial indicator)
RESULT:
Actual size (indirectly)
Deviation from given sizes

GAUGING

TOOLS: Fixed gauge and bevels

(plug and snap gauge, feeler gauge)
RESULT: Within unit or beyond it.