Calibration and Testing

Calibration refers to the process of setting the magnitude of the output (or response) of a measuring instrument to the magnitude of the input property or attribute within specified accuracy and precision.

For physical constants, weights, and measures, there are known and agreed values in the International System of Units (SI). Such constants include the length of the metre, the mass of the kilogram, and the volume of a litre.

In the United States, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a part of the federal government, maintains standards and is considered the arbiter and ultimate (in the U.S.) authority for values of SI units and industrial standards. NIST also defines traceability, by which an instrument's accuracy is established in an unbroken chain relating an instrument's measurements through one or more derivative standards to a standard maintained by NIST, as well as uncertainty.

In science, a calibrated test tube is one with measurements up the side.

See also

• Calibration (statistics)
• Metrology
• Scale test car - a device used to calibrate weighing scales that weigh railroad cars.

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The words test and testing have many meanings:

• Test and experiment form parts of the scientific method, to verify or falsify an expectation with an observation. See statistical hypothesis testing for the case when the outcome is subject to random variation.
• In manufacturing, quality control testing consists of a procedure designed to test the functionality of a product under potentially harmful conditions. Testers frequently refer to the test candidate product as the unit under test, or UUT. Compare system under test.
• The Debian testing version, also known as Etch
• In sports, the term test can refer to a test match - a game with international overtones
  • In the sport of cricket, a Test consists of a top-level match between two cricketing nations. Cricketers play test matches with two innings a side over five days.
• In education, a test (also called an "examination") serves to assess or measure students' performance, knowledge or skills
• The River Test flows through Hampshire in England
• Andrew Martin uses the name Test in his professional wrestling.
• In software engineering, testing identifies bugs in programs.
• In marketing, test can refer to a type of marketing research.
• In Biology a test can refer to the shell of some microbes, such as foraminifera and shelled amoebas.

For a more complete list of articles on tests, see the List of tests.

See also: Assessment.