I.

Types of Balances and its Accuracy Class

No. of digits after Decimal

No. Type of Balance Min. Readability (d) Accuracy Class
Place (g)
Ultra-micro
1 d = 0.1 µg = 0.0000001 g 7 I
Balance
2 Micro-Balance d = 1 µg = 0.000001 g 6 I

3 Semi-micro Balance d = 0.01 mg = 0.00001 g 5 I

4 Analytical Balance d = 0.1 mg = 0.0001 g 4 I

d = 50 mg to 1 mg = 0.05 g
5 Precision Balance 2 to 3 II
to 0.001 g
6 Medium Balance d = 1 g to 2 g 0 III

7 Ordinary Balance d>5g 0 IV

*Types of Balance based on resolution (d) and Accuracy Class

II. Symbol or Marking of Accuracy Class as per OIML

Symbol marked on Denomination used in this

Name
Instrument Recommendation
Special Accuracy I I
High Accuracy II II
Medium Accuracy III III
Ordinary Accuracy IIII IIII

III. Scale Intervals

1. Actual Scale Interval – the symbol is ‘d’ which is commonly known as the resolution,
readability, or the smallest change that we can observe. As per the OIML definition, it is
the difference of two consecutive indicated values.
2. Verification Scale Interval - uses the symbol ‘e’– which is defined under OIML as “Value,
expressed in units of mass, used for the classification and verification of an instrument.”

Verification Scale Interval ‘e’ is a scale interval used for verification purposes, hence the
term “verification’ with it. This means that during verification, for us to determine the
classification and tolerance of our balance, we need the value of ‘e’, the verification scale
interval, which is based on the actual scale interval, the ‘d’, or the resolution.

Number of Verification Minimum

Verification Scale Scale Interval, n=Max/e
Accuracy Class Capacity, Min
Interval, e
Minimum Maximum (Lower Limit)

Special (I) 0.001 g ≤ e* 50 000** - 100 e

0.01 g ≤ e ≤ 0.05 g 100 100 000 20 e
High (II)
0.1 g ≤ e 5 000 100 000 50 e
0.1 g ≤ e ≤ 2 g 100 10 000 20 e
Medium (III)
5g≤e 500 10 000 20 e
Ordinary (IIII) 5g≤e 100 1 000 10 e
The important application of the Verification Scale Interval “e” as per OIML R 76-1

Usually, e = d on class III and IIII balances (Ordinary Balances)

IV. How to Calculate the Verification Scale Interval “e”?

Below are ways to calculate the value of “e”.

Determine the resolution ‘d’, then:

d= 0.1 g 0.2 g 0.5 g

e= 1g 1g 1g

e= 10 d 5d 2d

Example:
1. Balance resolution is ‘d’=0.001g
e = 10 d = 10 (0.001 g)
e = 0.01 g

V. How to choose the Appropriate Standard Weights Used for Balance Calibration or
Verification?

Here is a simple formula to use as per OIML guide.

“They shall not have an error greater than 1/3 of the maximum permissible error of the instrument
for the applied load “.

The error that is referred to here is the measurement uncertainty value. The expanded uncertainty
found in the calibration certificate of the standard mass. This means that the measurement
uncertainty of the standard weights to be used should be within the limits if the mpe of the balance
is divided by 3. See below the relationship/equation.

Measurement Uncertainty of Balance mpe

STD Weights ≰ 3
Example:
2. Balance mpe = 0.01 g = 0.01 g / 3 = 0.0033 g
*This means that the measurement uncertainty of the standard should not exceed 0.0033 g
VI. Selection of Weights for Calibration of Weighing Machines

Resolution
Capacity 100 g 10 g 1g 100 mg 10 mg 1 mg 0.1 mg
Up to 50 g M3 M3 M3 M2 F2 E2

Up to 100 g M3 M3 M3 M3 M1 F1

Up to 500 g M3 M3 M3 M2 F2 E2

Up to 1 kg M3 M3 M3 M1 F1

Up to 5 kg M3 M3 M3 F2 E2

Up to 10 kg M3 M3 M2 F1

Up to 50 kg M3 M2 F2 E2

Up to 100 kg M3 M1 F1

Up to 500 kg M2 F2 E2
 Example:
3. A 320g capacity balance with a resolution of 1 g, a class M3 weight is appropriate
or has enough accuracy to be used for calibration or verification.

VII. How to Determine the Tolerance Limit or MPE of the Balance?

Now that we know the value of ‘e’, and the accuracy class of the balance, we can easily calculate the
mpe that we need. By using the tables below, we can now determine the tolerance of our balance.

But another value, the ‘m’ value is now needed. ‘m’ is the value of ‘Mass’ but expressed in
“Verification Scale Intervals ‘n’. To calculate ‘m’, below is the formula:

n = m = Max
e

After we have determined m, we can now choose the multiplier for our ‘e’ (first column) and then
calculate our mpe or tolerance limit, see below table.

Maximum For loads, m, expressed in verification scale intervals, e

Permissible
Error Class I Class II Class III Class IIII

± 0.5 e 0 ≤ m ≤ 50 000 0 ≤ m ≤ 5 000 0 ≤ m ≤ 500 0 ≤ m ≤ 50

± 1.0 e 50 000 < m ≤ 200 000 5 000 < m ≤ 20 000 500 < m ≤ 2000 50 < m ≤ 200

± 1.5 e 200 000 < m 20 000 < m ≤ 100 000 2 000 < m ≤ 10 000 200 < m ≤ 1 000

Example:
4. We will calibrate a balance with a maximum load of 520 g with a readability of 0.001 g.
Calculate the minimum load and tolerance of the balance.

∵ Max = 520 g; d = 0.001 g.

Solve for e, where e = 10d, 10*(0.001 g) = 0.01 g (Now that we got the “e”) we can now
solve for tolerances and minimum capacity for Class II.

Load m Mpe*2 Tolerance

Min – 200 mg 20 ± 0.5 e ± 0.010 g

500 mg 50 ± 0.5 e ± 0.010 g

1g 100 ± 0.5 e ± 0.010 g

5g 500 ± 0.5 e ± 0.010 g

10 g 1 000 ± 0.5 e ± 0.010 g

20 g 2 000 ± 0.5 e ± 0.010 g

50 g 5 000 ± 0.5 e ± 0.010 g

100 g 10 000 ± 1.0 e ± 0.020 g

200 g 20 000 ± 1.0 e ± 0.020 g

400 g 40 000 ± 1.5 e ± 0.030 g

520 g 52 000 ± 1.5 e ± 0.030 g