Measurement and

Instrumentation

Abdulwaheed MUSA (PhD, SMIEEE)

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Course Books
References:
Alan S. Morris and Reza Langari. Measurement and
Instrumentation, Theory and Application, Elsevier, 2012.

Prithwiraj Purkait. Electrical and Electronics Measurements and

Instrumentation, McGraw Hill, 2013.

Robert B. Northrop. Introduction to Instrumentation And

Measurements (2nd Ed.). Taylor & Francis Group, 2005.
 Course Outline
Fundamental concepts/Theory of measurements.
Error in measurements & Error analysis.
Application of primary sensing elements:
measurements of temperature, pressure, density,
specific gravity, surface area, motion, force, torque,
displacement, stress, strain and moisture contents
in materials.
Transducers.
Flow Measurements.
 Fundamental Concepts
INTRODUCTION:
Measurement of a given quantity is essentially an act or result of
comparison between the quantity (whose magnitude is unknown) and
predetermined or predefined standards.
Measurement techniques have been of immense importance ever since
the start of human civilization, when measurements were first needed to
regulate the transfer of goods in barter trade in order to ensure that
exchanges were fair.
The industrial revolution in the 19th century brought about a rapid
development of new instruments and measurement techniques to satisfy
the needs of industrialized production techniques. Since that time, there
has been a rapid growth in new industrial technology (developments in
electronics in general and computers in particular).
 Fundamental Concepts
INTRODUCTION:
The growth in the application of computers to industrial
process control and monitoring tasks has greatly expanded the
requirement for instruments to measure, record, and control
process variables.
As modern production techniques dictate working to ever
tighter accuracy limits, so the requirement for instruments to
be both accurate and inexpensive becomes ever harder to
satisfy.
In the past few years, the most cost-effective means of
improving instrument accuracy has been found in many cases
to be the inclusion of digital computing power within
instruments themselves. These intelligent instruments therefore
feature prominently in current instrument manufacturers’
catalogues.
• Basic requirements for a meaningful measurement:
The standard used for comparison purposes must be accurately defined
and should be commonly accepted.
The apparatus used and the method adopted must be verifiable.

• Significance of Measurement
Importance of Measurement is eloquently expressed in the statement
of Physicist Lord Kelvin: “I often say that when you can measure what
you are speaking about and can express it in numbers, you know
something about it; when you cannot express it in numbers, your
knowledge is of meagre and unsatisfactory kind.”
• Methods of Measurement
Direct Methods and Indirect Methods

• DIRECT METHODS: In these methods, the unknown quantity (called

the measurand ) is directly compared against a standard.

• INDIRECT METHOD: Measurements by direct methods are not always

possible, feasible and practicable. Here, the quantity to be measured
is not measured directly. But other related parameter is measured,
and inference is drawn from there.
 Fundamental Concepts
MEASUREMENT UNITS:
Definitions of standard units
 Fundamental Concepts
MEASUREMENT UNITS:
Fundamental SI units
 Fundamental Concepts
MEASUREMENT UNITS:
Derived SI units
 Fundamental Concepts
ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM: They are generalised into;

PRIMARY SENSING ELEMENT: The quantity under measurement

makes its first contact with the primary sensing element of a measurement
system. E.g. a liquid-in-glass thermometer, a thermocouple, and a strain
gauge.
VARIABLE CONVERSION ELEMENT: It converts the output of the
primary sensing element into suitable form to preserve the information
content of the original signal. Variable conversion element is needed where
the output variable of a primary transducer is in an inconvenient form and
has to be converted to a more convenient form.
SIGNAL PROCESSING ELEMENT: exist to improve the quality of
the output of a measurement system in some way. E.g. electronic amplifier,
which amplifies the output of the primary transducer or variable conversion
element, thus improving the sensitivity and resolution of measurement. e.g.
transmitter.
SIGNAL TRANSMISSION ELEMENT: is needed when the
observation or application point of the output of a measurement system is
some distance away from the site of the primary transducer. Sometimes, this
separation is made solely for purposes of convenience, but more often, it
follows from the physical inaccessibility or environmental unsuitability of
the site of the primary transducer for mounting the signal
presentation/recording unit.
 Fundamental Concepts
ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM:
SIGNAL PRESENTATION/RECORDING ELEMENT: The
information about the quantity under measurement has to be conveyed to
the personnel handling the instrument or the system for monitoring,
control or analysis purpose.
• Instruments and Measurement Systems
Measurement involves the use of instruments as a physical means of
determining quantities or variables. Because of modular nature of the
elements within it, it is common to refer the measuring instrument as a
MEASUREMENT SYSTEM.

Evolution of Instruments
• MECHANICAL Instrument: These instruments are very reliable for static and
stable conditions. But their disadvantage is that they are unable to respond
rapidly to measurements of dynamic and transient conditions.
• ELECTRICAL Instrument: It is faster than mechanical, indicating the output
are rapid than mechanical methods. But it depends on the mechanical
movement of the meters. The response is 0.5 to 24 seconds.
• ELECTRONIC Instrument: It is more reliable than other system. It uses
semiconductor devices and weak signal can also be detected.
 Fundamental Concepts
Choosing Appropriate Measuring Instruments

Instrument choice is a compromise among;

Performance characteristics such as desired measurement accuracy,
resolution, sensitivity, and dynamic performance.
Ruggedness and durability,
maintenance requirements,
(Assuming that one had $20,000 to spend, one would not spend $15,000 on
a new motor car whose projected life was 5 years if a car of equivalent
specification with a projected life of 10 years was available for $20,000.)
Environmental condition that the instrument will be subjected to,
purchase cost.
To carry out such an evaluation properly, the instrument engineer must
have a wide knowledge of the range of instruments available for measuring
particular physical quantities, and he/she must also have a deep
understanding of how instrument characteristics are affected by particular
measurement situations and operating conditions.
 Fundamental Concepts
Instrument Types:
Instruments can be subdivided into separate classes according to several
criteria. These sub-classifications are useful in broadly establishing several
attributes of particular instruments such as accuracy, cost, and general
applicability to different applications.
1. Active and Passive Instruments

Fig. 1: Passive Pressure Gauge Fig. 2: Petrol-tank level indicator

 Fundamental Concepts
Instrument Types:
2. Null-Type and Deflection-Type Instruments

Fig. 3: Dead-weight pressure gauge Fig. 4: Passive pressure gauge

3. Analogue and Digital Instruments
 Fundamental Concepts
Instrument Types:
4. Indicating Instruments and Instruments with a Signal Output
The class of indicating instruments normally includes all null-type
instruments and most passive ones. Indicators can also be further divided
into those that have an analogue output and those that have a digital
display. A common analogue indicator is the liquid-in-glass thermometer.
Another common indicating device, which exists in both analogue and
digital forms, is the bathroom scale.
Instruments that have a signal-type output are used commonly as part of
automatic control systems. In other circumstances, they can also be found
in measurement systems where the output measurement signal is
recorded in some way for later use.
5. Smart and Non-smart Instruments
The advent of the microprocessor has created a new division in
instruments between those that do incorporate a microprocessor (smart)
and those that do not.
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
If we have a thermometer in a room and its reading shows a temperature of 20℃,
then it does not really matter whether the true temperature of the room is
19.5 or 20.5℃ . Such small variations around 20℃ are too small to affect
whether we feel warm enough or not. Our bodies cannot discriminate between
such close levels of temperature and therefore a thermometer with an inaccuracy
of ±0.5℃ is perfectly adequate.
The various static characteristics are defined as follow;
1. Accuracy and Inaccuracy (Measurement Uncertainty)
The accuracy of an instrument is a measure of how close the output reading of
the instrument is to the correct value.
Inaccuracy or measurement uncertainty is the extent to which a reading might
be wrong and is often quoted as a percentage of the full-scale (f.s.) reading of an
instrument.
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:

2. Precision/Repeatability/Reproducibility
Precision is a term that describes an instrument’s degree of freedom
from random errors. Precision is often, although incorrectly, confused
with accuracy. High precision does not imply anything about
measurement accuracy. A high-precision instrument may have a low
accuracy. Low accuracy measurements from a high-precision instrument
are normally caused by a bias in the measurements, which is removable by
recalibration.
Repeatability describes the closeness of output readings when the same
input is applied repetitively over a short period of time, with the same
measurement conditions, same instrument and observer, same location,
and same conditions of use maintained throughout.
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
Reproducibility describes the closeness of output readings for the same
input when there are changes in the method of measurement, observer,
measuring instrument, location, conditions of use, and time of
measurement. Both terms thus describe the spread of output readings for
the same input. This spread is referred to as repeatability if the
measurement conditions are constant and as reproducibility if the
measurement conditions vary.

Fig. 7: Comparison of accuracy and precision

 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
3. Tolerance:
Tolerance is a term that is closely related to accuracy and defines the
maximum error that is to be expected in some value.
Example: A packet of resistors bought in an electronics component shop
gives the nominal resistance value as 1000Ω and the manufacturing
tolerance as ±5%. If one resistor is chosen at random from the packet,
what is the minimum and maximum resistance value that this particular
resistor is likely to have?
Solution: The minimum likely value is 1000Ω - 5% = 950Ω.
The maximum likely value is 1000Ω + 5% = 1050Ω

4. Range or Span:
The range or span of an instrument defines the minimum and maximum
values of a quantity that the instrument is designed to measure
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
5. Linearity
It is normally desirable that the output reading of an instrument is linearly
proportional to the quantity being measured. The Xs marked on Figure 8
show a plot of typical output readings of an instrument when a sequence
of input quantities are applied to it.

Fig. 8: Instrument output characteristic.

 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
6. Sensitivity of Measurement
The sensitivity of measurement is a measure of the change in instrument
output that occurs when the quantity being measured changes by a given
amount. Thus, sensitivity is the ratio:
𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
The sensitivity of measurement is therefore the slope of the straight line
drawn on Figure 8. If, for example, a pressure of 2 bar produces a
deflection of 10 degrees in a pressure transducer, the sensitivity of the
instrument is 5 degrees/bar (assuming that the deflection is zero with zero
pressure applied).
Example: The following resistance values of a platinum resistance
thermometer were measured at a range of temperatures. Determine the
measurement sensitivity of the instrument in ohms/℃.
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
Resistance (R) Temperature (℃)
307 200
314 230
321 260
328 290
Solution: If these values are plotted on a graph, the straight-line
relationship between resistance change and temperature change is obvious.
For a change in temperature of 30℃, the change in resistance is 7Ω. Hence
the measurement sensitivity = 7/30 = 0.233 Ω/℃.

7. Threshold
If the input to an instrument is increased gradually from zero, the input will
have to reach a certain minimum level before the change in the instrument
output reading is of a large enough magnitude to be detectable. This
minimum level of input is known as the threshold of the instrument.
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
As an illustration, a car speedometer typically has a threshold of about 15
km/h. This means that, if the vehicle starts from rest and accelerates, no
output reading is observed on the speedometer until the speed reaches 15
km/h.
8. Resolution
When an instrument is showing a particular output reading, there is a lower
limit on the magnitude of the change in the input measured quantity that
produces an observable change in the instrument output. Like threshold,
resolution is sometimes specified as an absolute value and sometimes as a
percentage of f.s. deflection.
Using a car speedometer as an example again, this has subdivisions of
typically 20 km/h. This means that when the needle is between the scale
markings, we cannot estimate speed more accurately than to the nearest 5
km/h. This value of 5 km/h thus represents the resolution of the
instrument.
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
9. Sensitivity to Disturbance
As variations occur in the ambient temperature, certain static instrument
characteristics change, and the sensitivity to disturbance is a measure of the
magnitude of this change. Such environmental changes affect instruments
in two main ways, known as zero drift (or bias) and sensitivity drift.
Zero Drift/Bias: The mechanical form of a bathroom scale is a
common example of an instrument prone to zero drift. It is quite usual
to find that there is a reading of perhaps 1 kg with no one on the scale. If
someone of known weight 70 kg were to get on the scale, the reading
would be 71 kg, and if someone of known weight 100 kg were to get on
the scale, the reading would be 101 kg. Zero drift is normally removable
by calibration.
Sensitivity drift (also known as scale factor drift): defines the amount
by which an instrument’s sensitivity of measurement varies as ambient
conditions change.
 Fundamental
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
Concepts
Example: A spring balance is calibrated in an environment at a temperature of
20℃ and has the following deflection/load characteristic:
Load (kg) 0 1 2 3
Deflection (mm) 0 20 40 60
It is then used in an environment at a temperature of 30℃, and the following
deflection/load characteristic is measured:
Load (kg) 0 1 2 3
Deflection (mm) 5 27 49 71
Determine the zero and sensitivity drifts per ℃ change in ambient temperature.
Solution:
At 20℃, deflection/load characteristic is a straight line. Sensitivity 20 mm/kg.
At 30C, deflection/load characteristic is still a straight line. Sensitivity =22 mm/kg.
Zero drift (bias) = 5 mm (the no-load deflection)
Sensitivity drift = 2 mm/kg
Zero drift/℃ = 5/10 = 0.5 mm/℃
Sensitivity drift/℃ = 2/10 = 0.2 (mm/kg)/℃
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
10. Hysteresis Effects
Figure 9 illustrates the output characteristic of an instrument that exhibits
hysteresis. If the input measured quantity to the instrument is increased
steadily from a negative value, the output reading varies in the manner
shown in curve A. If the input variable is then decreased steadily, the
output varies in the manner shown in curve B. The non-coincidence
between these loading and unloading curves is known as hysteresis.

Fig. 9: Instrument characteristic

with hysteresis.
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
Hysteresis is found most commonly in instruments that contain springs,
such as a passive pressure gauge (Figure 1) and a prony brake (used for
measuring torque).
11. Dead Space
Dead space is defined as the range of different input values over which
there is no change in output value. Any instrument that exhibits hysteresis
also displays dead space, as marked on Figure 9.

Fig.10:Instrument characteristic
with dead space.
 Fundamental Concepts
Static Characteristics of Instruments:
Some instruments that do not suffer from any significant hysteresis can still
exhibit a dead space in their output characteristics, however. Backlash in
gears is a typical cause of dead space and results in the sort of instrument
output characteristic shown in Figure 10. Backlash is commonly
experienced in gear sets used to convert between translational and
rotational motion (which is a common technique used to measure
translational velocity).
 Fundamental Concepts
Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments:
The static characteristics of measuring instruments are concerned only with
the steady-state reading that the instrument settles down to, such as
accuracy of the reading.
The dynamic characteristics of a measuring instrument describe its
behaviour between the time a measured quantity changes value and the time
when the instrument output attains a steady value in response. As with
static characteristics, any values for dynamic characteristics quoted in
instrument data sheets only apply when the instrument is used under
specified environmental conditions. Outside these calibration conditions,
some variation in the dynamic parameters can be expected.
In any linear, time-invariant measuring system, the following general
relation can be written between input and output for time (t) > 0:

Equation 1.
 Fundamental Concepts
Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments:
If we limit consideration to that of step changes in the measured quantity
only, then Equation (1) reduces to
Equation (2)

Further simplification can be made by taking certain special cases of

Equation (2), which collectively apply to nearly all measurement systems.
1. Zero-Order Instrument

A potentiometer, which measures motion, is a good example of such an

instrument, where the output voltage changes instantaneously as the slider
is displaced along the potentiometer track.
 Fundamental Concepts
Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments:
2. First order Instrument:
If all the coefficients a2 . . . an except for ao and a1 are assumed zero in
Equation (2) then
Any instrument that behaves according to Equation (4) is known as a first-
order instrument. If d/dt is replaced by the D operator in Equation (4), we
get

Fig. 11: Zero-Order instrument

characteristic.

and rearranging this then gives:

Defining K = b0/a0 as the static sensitivity and t = a1/a0 as the time
constant of the system, Equation (5) becomes
 Fundamental Concepts
Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments:
The thermocouple is a good example of a first-order instrument. It is well
known that if a thermocouple at room temperature is plunged into boiling
water, the output e.m.f. does not rise instantaneously to a level indicating
100 ℃, but instead approaches a reading indicating 100 ℃ in a manner
similar to that shown in Figure 12.

Fig. 12: First-order instrument characteristic

 Fundamental Concepts
Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments:
3. Second-order Instrument:
If all coefficients a3 . . . an other than a0, a1, and a2 in Equation (2) are
assumed zero, then we get
 Fundamental Concepts
Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments:
3. Second-order Instrument:
 Fundamental Concepts
Necessity for Calibration
The foregoing discussion has described the static and dynamic
characteristics of measuring instruments in some detail. However, an
important qualification that has been omitted from this discussion is that an
instrument only conforms to stated static and dynamic patterns of
behaviour after it has been calibrated. It can normally be assumed that a
new instrument will have been calibrated when it is obtained from an
instrument manufacturer and will therefore initially behave according to the
characteristics stated in the specifications.
 Fundamental Concepts
ASSIGNMENT
 Fundamental Concepts
ASSIGNMENT
Statistical evaluation of measurement data Arithmetic Mean
• The most probable value of measured variable is the arithmetic mean of the number of readings taken.

• Deviation: Deviation is departure of the observed reading from the arithmetic mean of the group of
readings.

• Standard Deviation: The standard deviation of an infinite number of data is defined as the square root
of the sum of the individual deviations squared divided by the number of readings.

• Problem Question:
The following 10 observations were recorded when measuring a voltage: 41.7, 42.0, 41.8, 42.0, 42.1,
41.9, 42.0, 41.9, 42.5, 41.8 volts. Calculate Mean, Standard Deviation, Probable Error and Range.
• Answer
Mean = 41.97 volt
S.D. = 0.22 volt
Probable error = 0.15 volt
Range = 0.8 volt.
Questions
• What is meant by measurement?
Measurement is an act or the result of comparison between the quantity and a Pre-
defined standard.
• Mention the basic requirements of measurement.
The standard used for comparison purpose must be accurately defined and should be
commonly accepted. · The apparatus used and the method adopted must be provable.
• What are the 2 methods for measurement?
Direct method and Indirect method.
• Define Instrument.
Instrument is defined as a device for determining the value or magnitude of a quantity or
variable.
• List the types of instruments.
The 3 types of instruments are · Mechanical Instruments · Electrical Instruments and ·
Electronic Instruments.