Dictionary · Calibration
Adjustment of a measuring system
The set of operations carried out on a measuring system so that it provides prescribed indications corresponding to given quantity values. Adjustment changes the instrument; calibration afterwards re-establishes its relation to standards.
Related terms
More from Calibration
Calibration hierarchy
The sequence of calibrations from a stated reference to the final measuring system, each calibration depending on the previous one; uncertainty necessarily grows down the chain.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.40
Calibration curve
The expression of the relation between indication and corresponding measured quantity value established by calibration — the diagram's central line, without the uncertainty strip.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.31
Verification
Provision of objective evidence that a given item fulfils specified requirements — e.g. that an instrument performs within its maximum permissible errors. A pass/fail attestation, distinct from calibration.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.44
Metrological comparability of measurement results
Comparability of results traceable to the same reference — what shared traceability buys: results that can be meaningfully compared even from different labs and methods.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.46
Calibration diagram
A graphical expression of the relation between indication and corresponding measurement result, showing the strip of estimated uncertainty around the relation.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.30
Zero adjustment of a measuring system
Adjustment so that the system provides a null indication corresponding to a zero value of the quantity to be measured.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 3.12