Analytical Balance Features: Statistics
The best analytical balances will make weighing processes in your lab easier and more precise.
They do this not just by being extremely accurate, but by also boasting a range of analytical balance features such as dynamic weighing, internal calibration and selectable digital filtering. Plus, to help you stay GLP compliant, they will allow you to obtain, record and save data.
One of the most useful of all analytical balance features is the Statistics function, which we’ll explore in this blog post.
What is the Statistics function?
Lab balances, like Adam Equipment’s Equinox Analytical & Semi-Micro Balance, allow you to collect statistics in various weighing modes, such as standard weighing, counting mode or percentage weighing mode. For the purpose of this blog post, we’ll use the Equinox balance as our reference.
The Statistics function allows you to record information from up to 500 consecutive weights, which can then be stored in the balance’s memory and recalled when needed. The values that can recorded and compared are minimum value, maximum value, difference, sum, average, standard deviation and coefficient of standard deviation.
Tolerances: These can be set by users so determine which sets of data are kept in the statistics. For instance, if you know your measurements should be between 0.060 and 0.500 grams, you can exclude anything under or above these limits.
Difference: This is the difference between the maximum and the minimum values.
Sum: This is the maximum and minimum values totalised.
Average: This is the average value of all the measurements that the balance has recorded. This is worked out by dividing the sum of all the measurements by the number of measurements that have been recorded.
Standard deviation: This indicates how much the values you have recorded have deviated from the norm.
Coefficient of standard deviation: This is the ratio of the standard deviation to the average across your recorded data. The benefit of this statistic is that it can be used as a comparison against other data sets that may use contain values and are not evaluated in the same way.
What are the benefits of statistical analysis on a lab balance?
The ability to produce statistics when using a lab balance helps you to easily identify trends during your weighing processes. Whilst this can be easily carried out manually, having the balance record, organise and resent the statistics saves a huge amount of time allows you to concentrate on the weighing process – and then analysing the statistics afterwards.
Additionally, it reduces the risk of human error when both recording the data and then producing the statistics.
Statistics can be kept for traceability and evaluation for studies and experiments. They can also be highly useful quality control labs, where all elements of the process will be scrutinised.
The raw data can also be analysed to reveal patterns, as well as confirm or reject a hypothesis or find correlations. Statistics can reveal errors, whether the standard deviation is acceptable, and allow you to learn more about the materials tested and how they can be used.
The Equinox Analytical & Semi-Micro Balance
This ability to record data, provide trustworthy statistics – and, afterwards, send the data to a printer to generate a hard copy, means a Statistics function is one of the most useful analytical balance features available.
Adam Equipment’s Equinox is one of the most capable lab balances available, and can connect to PCs and printers for sending, saving and printing statistics data.
The Statistics function is easily accessible from the balance’s Statistics icon, and from there ‘Simple Statistics’ can be selected to immediately begin recording weights ready for statistical analysis.
For more information about how you can use the Statistics function on the Equinox, download the user manual from the Downloads tab on this page.
For more information about using analytical balance features, please Get In Touch with us.
Related Blogs:
Analytical Balance Features: Percentage Weighing
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