Dictionary · Instruments
Maximum permissible error (MPE)
The extreme value of measurement error, with respect to a known reference value, permitted by specifications or regulations for a given instrument. Verification confirms indications fall within ±MPE.
Related terms
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Null measurement uncertainty
The measurement uncertainty when the specified measured value is zero — what limits how confidently a null or tare reading can be trusted.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.29
Nominal quantity value
A rounded or approximate value of a characterizing quantity of a measuring instrument that guides its appropriate use — the "100 Ω" stamped on a resistor, the "1 kg" of a weight.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.6
Detection limit
The measured value, obtained by a given procedure, for which the probability of falsely claiming absence of a component is β, given a probability α of falsely claiming its presence — the statistically honest "smallest amount we can claim to see".
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.18
Selectivity of a measuring system
The property whereby the system provides measured values for one or more measurands that are independent of other measurands or influence quantities.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.13
Indicating measuring instrument
A measuring instrument providing an output signal carrying information about the value of the quantity being measured — voltmeters, thermometers, balances.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 3.3
Nominal indication interval
The set of values, bounded by rounded or approximate extreme indications, obtainable with a particular setting of the controls and used to designate that setting — the "0–100 V range" on a meter switch.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.4