MEASUREMENTS OF LENGTH; VERNIER SCALES AND MICROMETER SCREWS

Reprinted from Experimental College Physics, by Marsh W. White and Kenneth V. Manning, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1954. For most measurements with a rules scale, it is desirable to estimate fractions of the smallest division on the scale. Two common scale attachments that increase the accuracy of these estimates are the vernier scale and the micrometer screw. Because of the difficulty of holding a linear scale against a curved surface or against a narrow width, calipers are used. A caliper is an instrument with two jaws, straight or curved, used to determine the diameters of objects or the distances between two surfaces. A caliper with a vernier scale is called a vernier caliper; a caliper with a micrometer screw is called a micrometer caliper. The Vernier Principle. The vernier is an auxiliary scale, invented by Pierre Vernier in 1631, which has graduations that are of different length from those on the main scale but that bear a simple relation to them. The vernier scale of Fig. 3.1 has 10 divisions that correspond in length to 9 divisions on the main scale. Each vernier division is therefore shorter than a main-scale division by 1/10 of a main-scale division. In fig.3.1 the zero mark of the vernier scale coincides with the zero mark of the main scale. The first vernier division is 1/10 main-scale division short of a mark on the main scale, the second division in 2/10 short of the next mark on the main scale, and so on until the tenth vernier division is 10/10, or a whole division, short of a mark on the main scale. It therefore coincides with a mark on the main scale. If the vernier scale is moved to the right until one mark, say the sixth as in Fig. 3.2, coincides with some mark of the main scale the number of tenths of a main-scale division that the vernier scale is moved is the number of the vernier division that coincides with any main scale division. (It does not matter with which main-scale mark it coincides.) The sixth vernier division coincides with a main-scale mark in Fig 3.2 therefore the vernier scale has moved 6/10 of a main-scale division to the right of its zero position. The vernier scale thus tells the fraction of a main-scale division that the zero of the vernier scale has moved beyond any main-scale mark. In Fig. 3.3 the zero is to the right of the second mark on the main scale and the fourth mark of the vernier scale coincides with a main-scale mark. The reading is 2.0 divisions (obtained from the main scale up to the vernier zero) and 0.4 division (obtained from the vernier coincidence), or 2.4 divisions.

The foregoing example illustrates the simplest and commonest type of vernier scale. Instruments are manufactured with many different vernier-scale to main scale ratios. The essential principle of all vernier scales is, however, the same, and the student who masters the fundamental idea can easily learn by himself to read any special type. In brief, the general principle of the vernier scale is that a certain number n of divisions on the vernier scale is equal in length to a different number (usually one less) of main scale divisions. In symbols nV = ( n 1) S (1) where n is the number of divisions on the vernier scale, V is the length of one division on the vernier scale, and S is the length of the smallest main-scale division. The term least count is applied to the smallest value that can be read directly from a vernier scale. It is equal to the difference between a main-scale and a vernier division. It can be expressed by rearranging Eq. (1), thus

Least count = S V =

1 S n

(2)

When you have occasion to used a new type of vernier scale, first determine the least count of the instrument. In order to make a measurement with the instrument, read the number of divisions on the main scale before the zero of the vernier scale and note which vernier division coincides with a mark of the main scale. Multiply the number of the coinciding vernier mark by the least count to obtain the fractional part of a main-scale division to be added to the main-scale reading. The Vernier Caliper. A widely used type of vernier caliper is shown schematically in Fig. 3.4 The instrument has both British and metric scales and is provided with devices to measure internal depths and both inside and outside diameters. The jaws c and d are arranged to measure an outside diameter, jaws e and f to measure an inside diameter, and the blade g to measure an internal depth. The knurled wheel W is used for convenient adjustment of the movable jaw and the latch L to lock the jaw in position. The Micrometer Screw. A micrometer screw is another device for measuring very small distances. It consists essentially of a carefully machined screw R, Fig. 3.5, to which is attached a circular scale C. A linear scale S provides for observation of the forward motion of the screw. The distance the
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screw moves forward for one turn, the pitch of the screw, is known. The circular scale enables one to read the fractions of turns, and the linear scale enables one to record the whole number of turns. The least count of a micrometer screw is the pitch of the screw divided by the number of divisions on the circular scale. The Micrometer Caliper. The micrometer caliper, Fig. 3.6 is used for the precise measurement of small lengths. It consists of a micrometer screw mounted in a strong frame F. The object to be measured is placed between the end of the screw and the projecting end A of the frame, called the anvil. The linear scale S is marked on the arm upon which the screw turns and the circular scale is engraved on the movable sleeve or thimble T. One type of metric micrometer caliper has the linear scale graduated in millimeters, a screw having a pitch of 0.50 mm, and 50 divisions on the circular scale. The least count of this instrument is 0.50mm/50 = 0.010mm. Inasmuch as it requires two revolutions of the screw to make it advance a distance of 1 mm, it is necessary to note whether the screw has advanced more or less than one-half of a main-scale division. Various methods are used for marking the half-millimeter distances as illustrated in Fig. 3.7a-d. In these diagrams the S reading is 6.5 mm and the T reading is 48.4 hundredths of a millimeter. The complete reading is, therefore, 6.5 + 0.484 or 6.981 mm. Many micrometer calipers are provided with an auxiliary milled head, H in Fig. 3.6 which is arranged to slip on the screw as soon as a certain force is exerted on the object to be measured. This arrangement is intended to ensure that the screw is always tightened on the measured object by the same amount. When no such head is provided, great care must be taken not to force the screw.