An analytical balance is a precision laboratory instrument designed to measure very small masses with extremely high accuracy, typically to within a fraction of a milligram, using an enclosed weighing chamber that shields the measurement from air currents and a sensing mechanism, historically mechanical and today almost always electronic, that detects and reports the exact mass placed on its pan. Mechanical analytical balances employing fine knife-edge fulcrums and beam mechanisms were developed and refined through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by instrument makers seeking ever greater precision for chemical and physical measurement, and the instrument was transformed in the second half of the twentieth century by the development of electronic balances using electromagnetic force restoration, which offered greater speed, durability and ease of use. The analytical balance remains a foundational instrument of virtually every chemistry, pharmaceutical, materials science and biology laboratory, essential wherever a precisely known small mass of a substance must be measured out for an experiment, formulation or analysis.
Facts
Measuressmall mass in the sub-milligram range 1 Operating PrincipleA sample pan sits inside a draft-shielded enclosure; a mechanical version balances the sample against known reference masses on a beam, while an electronic version uses an electromagnet to generate a counterbalancing force and reports the power needed to hold balance. 1 Resolution0.1 mg or better in ordinary use; specially shielded units can resolve down to 1 microgram 1 Classification
Instrument Class Connections
Used In
Chemistry, Disciplines The analytical balance is the precision mass-measurement instrument of quantitative chemistry, central to stoichiometric and gravimetric work.
Sources
1. Analytical Balance (Wikipedia)
WikipediaWikipedia, Analytical balance article, lead section, first sentence
An analytical balance (or chemical balance) is a class of balance designed to measure small mass in the sub-milligram range.
Wikipedia, Analytical balance article, lead section, describing electronic balances
Electronic analytical scales measure the force needed to counter the mass being measured rather than balancing a beam with reference masses.
Wikipedia, Analytical balance article, lead section, resolution figure
The measuring pan of an analytical balance (0.1 mg resolution or better) is inside a transparent enclosure with doors so that dust does not collect and so any air currents in the room do not affect the balance's operation.
Lede, instrument class
An analytical balance is a precision laboratory instrument designed to measure very small masses with extremely high accuracy, typically to within a fraction of a milligram, using an enclosed weighing chamber that shields the measurement from air currents and a sensing mechanism, historically mechanical and today almost always electronic, that detects and reports the exact mass placed on its pan.
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