ASTM D4753-95

Designation: D 4753 – 95
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS
100 Barr Harbor Dr., West Conshohocken, PA 19428
Reprinted from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Copyright ASTM
Standard Specification for
Evaluating, Selecting, and Specifying Balances and Scales
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for Use in Soil, Rock, and Construction Materials Testing
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 4753; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
1. Scope * 2. Referenced Documents
1.1 This specification provides minimum requirements for 2.1 ASTM Standards:
general-purpose scales, balances, and standard masses used in E 617 Specification for Laboratory Weights and Precision
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testing soil, rock, and related construction materials. Mass Standards
1.2 This specification provides guidance for evaluating, 2.2 National Institute of Standards and Technology Docu-
selecting, and specifying general purpose scales, balances, and ments:
standard masses used in testing soil, rock, and related construc- NIST Handbook 44 Specifications, Tolerances, and Other
tion materials. Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring
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1.3 The accuracy requirements for balances and scales are Devices
specified in terms of the combined effect of all sources of error NIST Handbook 105-1 Specifications and Tolerances for
contributing to overall balance performance. The measurement Reference Standards and Field Standard Weights and
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of specific sources of error and consideration of details Measures
pertaining to balance construction have been intentionally 2.3 International Organization for Legal Metrology
avoided. (OIML):
1.4 This specification does not include requirements for International Recommendation No. 20 Weights of Accuracy
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balances and scales that have accuracies greater than those Classes E ,E ,F ,F ,M from 50 kg to 1 mg
1 2 1 2 1
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generally required in normal soil, rock, and related construc- International Recommendation No. 3
tion materials.
3. Terminology
1.5 This specification does not apply to nongraduated bal-
ances. 3.1 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:
3.1.1 accurate—a balance is “accurate” when its perfor-
1.6 This specification does not address the methods used to
verify or quantify specific parameters dealing with balances mance (its indication as determined by tests made with suitable
standards) conforms to the standard within the applicable
and scales. For a description of tests used in evaluating balance
performance, see NIST Handbook 44. tolerances and other performance requirements. Balances that
fail to conform are “inaccurate.”
1.7 This specification is not intended to be used as a
specification for the purchase of balances and scales. 3.1.2 balance—an instrument for determining the mass of
an object by the action of gravity on the object. See scale.
NOTE 1—The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
formerly the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), and the International
NOTE 3—In this specification the terms balance and scale are used
Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) publish standards or practices
interchangeably as is often done. The term balance is more often used in
that specify construction requirements as well as performance specifica-
scientific fields of application. See Note 7.
tions for balances. ASTM, OIML, and NIST publish construction stan-
3.1.3 basic condition—a basic condition is a condition that
dards and tolerances for standard masses.
must be met before a basic measurement for evaluating a
NOTE 2—The terms “mass” and “determine the mass of” are used in
balance can be performed.
this standard instead of the more commonly used terms “weight” and
“weigh” to comply with standard metric practice. In addition, the term 3.1.4 basic measurement (of error)—a basic measurement
“standard mass(es)” is used instead of “weight(s)” when referring to a
for evaluating a balance is performed by (1) determining the
piece of material of known specified mass used to compare or measure the
change of indication of the balance when a load of known mass
mass of other masses.
is added to or subtracted from any load already on the balance;
and (2) taking the difference between the change in the
1 2
This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D-18 on Soil Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 14.02.
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and Rock and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D18.99 on Quality Available from the International Standards, National Institute of Standards and
Control. Technology, US Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
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Current edition approved April 15, 1995. Published June 1995. Originally Available from the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing
published as D 4753 – 87. Last previous edition D 4753 – 92. Office, Washington, D
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