EXPERIMENT 1: VERNIER AND MICROMETER CALIPER

Laboratory Report

Flores, Z.F., Gandola, K., Go, D.A., Gutierrez, M.E.,Imbao, M.R.,

Department of Biochemistry
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santo Tomas
Espaa, Manila Philippines
Abstract volume of the said materials using the

Introduction measurements recorded.

Measurement plays a big role in Theory

our lives. It helps us do basic things like The Vernier Caliper is a

measuring ingredients while cooking, measuring instrument used to measure

temperature of a person, managing time, internal and external diameters of an

etc. It is also used in almost all object up to 300mm or 6 inches long. It

professions we know from engineers to has slides or Vernier scale that makes

doctors and even farmers. We just need sure that the object being measured is fit

to be a little careful in measuring such. in between the two jaws of the caliper. It

Measurement is correlated with has a main scale of millimeters.

physical quantities like mass, length, The Micrometer is used to

area, volume and area. The first measure the thickness or diameter of

objective of this experiment is to smaller objects. This produces finer

measure the volume, mass and length of results than the Vernier Caliper. This

the given materials like washer, metal permits measurement of 0.001mm on

cube and a marble using the Vernier measuring the objects.

caliper and micrometer caliper. The Similarly, the Vernier caliper and

second objective is to be able to use the Micrometer gives length as meters or

these calipers correctly and get accurate millimeters. Both use the Metric System

and precise measurements. Lastly, the which was is an internationally agreed

students must be able to calculate the decimal system of measurement. It is

now known as International System of
Units or SI unit from many parts of the V Cube = a3
world. The metric system consists of the Density = m/v
gram, meter and liter measurements.
% Error = (Experimental Value-
It is often that the results read in to
Standard Value)/Standard Value
specific number of significant figures so
Methodology
it would be read much simpler than the
The instruments used in the
exact measurement of an object. Also,
experiment are the Vernier caliper,
significant figures are done so as to
Micrometer caliper, and the triple beam
assume that there are still many
balance. Both calipers are used to
uncertainties about the result and that
measure the length and the triple beam
there are still missing digits after the
balance is used to find the mass. The
final reading is done.
materials that were measured in the
Using the Vernier Caliper,
experiment are: copper metal cube,
Micrometer and the Triple Beam
marble, and washer.
Balance, we got data that will be used to
To start off with the experiment,
get the density of the object and its
the sample materials were measured in
volume. The Vernier caliper and
terms of length and mass. The length of
Micrometer gave us data of length and
the copper metal cube and the washer
height while the triple beam gave us
were measured in the Vernier caliper by
mass. To get the volume of the density,
fitting the samples in the Vernier scale.
know first the formula used for the
On the other hand, the marble and the
objects shape. For this matter, spherical
copper metal cube again was measured
(marble), cylindrical (washer) and cube
by the micrometer scale the sample is
(metallic cube) was used to conduct this
fitted in the instrument and pressure is
experiment. To get the density, weigh the
applied in the thimble. The radius or the
object to get the mass and use the
thickness of each of the materials was
computed volume for the formula.
also measured. The values measured
Density is mass over volume.
were used to calculate the volume and
COMPUTATIONS
density of each material.
V Sphere = 4/3r3
V Cylinder = r2h
 DENSITY (g/cm3)
Experimental 8.80 g/ cm3
Standard 8.90 g/ cm3
% error 1.13 %
Table 2. Results of Washer (Vernier)
Material steel
Mass (g) 5.0 g
Outer diameter 25.80 mm
(mm)
Outer diameter 2.58 cm
(cm)
Micrometer Caliper Inner Diameter 6.60 mm
(mm)
Inner Diameter 0.66 cm
(cm)
Inner radius (cm) 0.33 cm
Thickness/ Height 1.3 mm
(mm)
Thickness/Height 0.13 cm
(cm)
Volume (cm3) 0.64 cm3
DENSITY (g/cm3)
Experimental 7.81 g/ cm3
Vernier Caliper
Standard 7.8 g/ cm3
Results and Discussion
% error 0.13 %
In the Vernier Caliper, two objects
were measured as sample objects: a) Based on the data gathered in

copper metal cube and b) steel washer. Vernier Caliper, the experimental value

The mass of these objects was measured of the two samples, the metal and the

using triple beam balance. washer, is almost the same with respect

Table 1. Results of Copper Metal Cube to their standard value although there is

(Vernier) only a slight difference. The percentage

error of the metal cube is only 1.13%
Material copper
Mass (g) 145.90 g while the washer is only 0.13 %.
Length(mm) 25.50 mm
Therefore, it indicates that the Vernier
Length (cm) 2.55 cm
Volume (cm3) 16.58 cm3 Caliper has accurate measurement.
 In the Micrometer Caliper, two Standard 2.6 g/ cm3
objects were measured as sample % error 7.44 %
objects; a) copper metal cube and b)
glass marble. The mass of these objects
was measured using triple beam balance Based on the collected data, the
micrometer caliper gives the more
Table 3. Results of Copper Metal Cube accurate measurement to a cube sample
(Micrometer) than to a sphere sample. The percentage
Material copper error of the metal cube is 1.23% while
the marble is 7.44%. The possible reason
Mass (g) 145.90 g
for this is that there is a slight
Length(mm) 25.30 mm misalignment in the spheres center. It is
Length (cm) 2.53 cm easier to align a cube to its center
because it has a flat surface as compare
Volume (cm3) 16.19 cm
to a sphere, which is round.
3)
DENSITY (g/cm Furthermore, as shown in the
Experimental 9.01 g/ cm3
results, the Vernier caliper is capable of
3
Standard 8.9 g/ cm measuring the inner diameter of an
% error 1.23 % object that has hole in the middle such as
the washer. If the inner diameter is
already measured, the inner radius will
Table 4. Results of Marble (Micrometer)
be computed by dividing it by 2. The
Material glass
Mass (g) 5.90 g inner diameter of the washer that was
used is 6.60mm and its inner radius is
Length(mm) 16.70 mm
3.30mm. On the other hand, the
Length (cm) 1.67 cm micrometer caliper is more capable of

Radius .835 cm measuring a sphere object compare to

Volume (cm3) 2.44 cm3 Vernier caliper. It is because the movable
jaw of a micrometer caliper has a flatter
DENSITY (g/cm3)
Experimental 2.42 g/ cm3 surface that holds the object tighter.
Conclusions
 The Vernier and Micrometer found to have 7.81 g/cm3 and a standard
were used to obtain the measurements of density of 7.8 g/cm3. The amount of
washer, metal cube, and marble. Using percentage error between experimental
the Micrometer to measure the and standard value was calculated to be
experimental density of the metal cube, 0.13%
it was found to be 9.01 g/cm3. The The possible sources of errors is
standard density for the metal cube was the parallax error or the calibration error
8.9 g/cm3. The percentage error between of the factory wherein it gives a small
the standard and experimental value was amount of difference in the measurement
1.23%. The marble was found to have value.
2.24 g/cm3 and a standard density of 2.6 Conclusions
g/cm3. The percentage error between
experimental and standard value
calculated to be 7.44%. Using the
Vernier in measuring the experimental
density of metal cube, it was found to be
8.80 g/cm3 while its standard density
was 8.9 g/cm3, having the percentage
error of 1.13% between the experimental
and standards value. The washer was