Graph Paper

Pen

Lever

Aneroid cell

Barogram
BOURDON GAGE

The Bourdon-tube gauge, invented about 1850, is still one of the most widely used instruments for measuring the pressure
of liquids and gases of all kinds, including steam, water, and air up to pressures of 100,000 pounds per square inch
(70,000 newtons per square cm). The device (also shown in the figure) consists of a flattened circular tube coiled into a
circular arc. One end is soldered to a central block and is open to the fluid whose pressure is to be measured; the other
end is sealed and coupled to the pointer spindle. When the pressure inside the tube is greater than the outside pressure,
the tube tends to straighten, thus turning the pointer. The pressure is read on a circular scale.

The Bourdon pressure gauge uses the principle that a flattened tube tends to straighten or regain its circular form in cross-
section when pressurized. Although this change in cross-section may be hardly noticeable, and thus involving
moderate stresses within the elastic range of easily workable materials, the strain of the material of the tube is magnified
by forming the tube into a C shape or even a helix, such that the entire tube tends to straighten out or uncoil, elastically, as
it is pressurized. Eugene Bourdon patented his gauge in France in 1849, and it was widely adopted because of its superior
sensitivity, linearity, and accuracy; Edward Ashcroft purchased Bourdon's American patent rights in 1852 and became a
major manufacturer of gauges. Also in 1849, Bernard Schaeffer in Magdeburg, Germany patented a successful diaphragm
(see below) pressure gauge, which, together with the Bourdon gauge, revolutionized pressure measurement in
industry.[7] But in 1875 after Bourdon's patents expired, his company Schaeffer and Budenberg also manufactured Bourdon
tube gauges.
In practice, a flattened thin-wall, closed-end tube is connected at the hollow end to a fixed pipe containing the fluid
pressure to be measured. As the pressure increases, the closed end moves in an arc, and this motion is converted into the
rotation of a (segment of a) gear by a connecting link that is usually adjustable. A small-diameter pinion gear is on the
pointer shaft, so the motion is magnified further by the gear ratio. The positioning of the indicator card behind the pointer,
the initial pointer shaft position, the linkage length and initial position, all provide means to calibrate the pointer to indicate
the desired range of pressure for variations in the behavior of the Bourdon tube itself. Differential pressure can be
measured by gauges containing two different Bourdon tubes, with connecting linkages.
Bourdon tubes measure gauge pressure, relative to ambient atmospheric pressure, as opposed to absolute pressure;
vacuum is sensed as a reverse motion. Some aneroid barometers use Bourdon tubes closed at both ends (but most use
diaphragms or capsules, see below). When the measured pressure is rapidly pulsing, such as when the gauge is near a
reciprocating pump, an orifice restriction in the connecting pipe is frequently used to avoid unnecessary wear on the gears
and provide an average reading; when the whole gauge is subject to mechanical vibration, the entire case including the
pointer and indicator card can be filled with an oil or glycerin. Tapping on the face of the gauge is not recommended as it
will tend to falsify actual readings initially presented by the gauge. The Bourdon tube is separate from the face of the gauge
and thus has no effect on the actual reading of pressure. Typical high-quality modern gauges provide an accuracy of 2%
of span, and a special high-precision gauge can be as accurate as 0.1% of full scale.[8]
BAROGRAPH
Alexander Cumming, a watchmaker and mechanic, has a claim to having made the first effective recording barograph in
the 1760s using an aneroid cell.[1] Cumming created a series of barometrical clocks, including one for King George III.
However, this type of design fell out of favour. Since the amount of movement that can be generated by a single aneroid is
minuscule, up to seven aneroids (so called Vidie-cans) are often stacked "in series" to amplify their motion. This type of
barograph was invented in 1844 by the Frenchman Lucien Vidi(18051866).[2]
A barograph is an aneroid barometer which has been designed to continuously record measurements of atmospheric or
barometric pressure. They were invented in France in the 1840s and were produced in large quantities in the later part of
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The most common use of aneroid barometer was as a recording device by meteorologists. Detailed records of the weather
conditions have been kept across the world, in some cases for several hundred years, and the aneroid barograph allowed
at least one of these measurements to be automated. Over time these recording of meteorlogical activity have built up to
form a huge library of data, allowing trends in weather activity to be studied and conclusions drawn about the nature of
climate change at both a local and global level.

The barograph can also be used as a tool for weather prediction. A barometer indicates the current atmospheric pressure,
which has a value in itself, but whats more relevant is understanding the way in which pressure is changing. The
barograph supplies this in the form of the continuous line, or barogram, drawn out over time. A rapid change in the air
pressure is usually accompanied by higher winds; falling pressure indicates cloudier weather with a higher chance of
precipitation, while rising pressure suggests period of clearer, drier weather is on the way.

Most barographs are designed to record changes in barometric pressure over the period of one week, although some are
designed for shorter or longer periods.

Barographs were particularly important at sea, where changes in air pressure indicate future sailing conditions and help
sailors to plan their actions. Maritime barographs are often more precise than those used on land because of the
importance that changing condition can have on shipping activities.

Another use of this form of barometer was to create flight records for gliders, or sailplanes as they are sometimes known.
The aneroid barometer responds predictably to altitude changes and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FIA)
insisted that they were used to capture data during record attempts and other specific activities involving gliders.

Today the aneroid barometer is being superseded by digital devices for recording atmospheric pressure. However,
because many of these devices were built by craftsmen from wood, glass and brass they make attractive objects in their
own right and are becoming collectors items. A traditional barograph in its glass case, quietly tracing out imperceptible
changes in the pressure of the air, adds an air of scientific enquiry and timeless elegance to any room.

ANEROID BAROMETER

About 1645, an Italian mathematician named Torricelli discovered the principle of the barometer by using a long
glass tube closed at one end, which he put upside down in an open container holding liquid. He found that the pressure of
the air bearing down on the liquid in the container forced it up the tube, and the measurement of the various lengths of the
column of liquid was therefore a means of expressing the changes in air pressure .In order to have a tube of manageable
length, the heaviest of all liquids, mercury, was later used.

Today we have finely constructed mercurial barometers capable of giving very accurate readings. They are costly and they
need special care in handling. For general use an easier though less precise means of measurement has been devised -
the ANEROID BAROMETER (aneroid = without fluid).

A barometer's main use, however, is not to measure altitude, but to measure the actual changes in the pressure of
air at a particular place. High and low pressure systems in the atmosphere move around the earth's surface, and the
movements shown on the face of a barometer attached to the wall of your home indicate the changes of pressure as they
occur directly above you. These changes, when they are considered together with wind, temperature, moisture and cloud
indications, can be a great help in forecasting approaching weather.

The aneroid barometer is operated by a metal cell containing only a very small amount of air, or a series of such
cells joined together. Increased air pressure causes the sides of the cell or cells to come closer together. One side is fixed
to the base of the instrument while the other is connected by means of a system of levers and pulleys to a rotating pointer
that moves over a scale on the face of the instrument. This pointer is usually black.

A barometer is a meteorological instrument that measures atmospheric pressure. Meteorologists (scientists who study the
weather) use barometers to predict changes in the weather using the fact that a change in air pressure is a change in
weather. A rising barometer is usually an indication of improving weather and a falling barometer usually means a storm is
on the way. If it is rising, it means that the air pressure is increasing. If it is falling, it means the air pressure is decreasing. If
the barometer is used to measure heights, a decreasing barometer can be lined up with increasing heights measured in
feet above sea level.
One type of barometer is the aneroid barometer. It is portable and can measure small changes in air pressure. It is the type
of barometer that is used in the home. A diaphragm at the top moves with every change in air pressure which is connected
to levers which move a dial that is lined up with a scale that gives the air pressure readings.

MANOMETER

Poiseuille invented the U-tube mercury manometer (called the hemodynamometer) and used it to measure
pressures in the arteries of horses and dogs. A recording version of the manometer, named the Poiseuille-Ludwig
hemodynamometer, was used in medical schools until the 1960s and to this day blood pressures are reported in mm
Hg due to Poiseuille's invention.

A manometer can be designed to directly measure absolute pressure. The manometer in Figure 5 measures the
pressure compared to zero absolute pressure in a sealed leg above a mercury column. The most common form of this
manometer is the conventional mercury barometer used to measure atmospheric pressure. With just one connection, this
configuration can measure pressures above and below atmospheric pressure.

One of the earliest pressure measuring instruments is still in wide use today because of its inherent accuracy and
simplicity of operation. It's the U-tube manometer, which is a U-shaped glass tube partially filled with liquid. This
manometer has no moving parts and requires no calibration. Manometry measurements are functions of gravity and the
liquid's density, both physical properties that make the U-tube manometer a NIST standard for accuracy.

PIEZOMETER invented by Jacob Perkins

Piezometers measure PRESSURE (the measurand) and are used to confirm pore water pressure and/or ground
water levels which are used in several calculations (computations) to quantify other parameters which influence the
performance of soil and rock. A piezometer is either a device used to measure liquid pressure in a system by measuring
the height to which a column of the liquid rises against gravity, or a device which measures the pressure (more precisely,
the piezometric head) of groundwater [1] at a specific point. A piezometer is designed to measure static pressures, and thus
differs from apitot tube by not being pointed into the fluid flow.
Observation wells give some information on the water level in a formation, but must be read manually. Electrical
pressure transducers of several types can be read automatically, making data acquisition more convenient.
The first piezometers in geotechnical engineering were open wells or standpipes (sometimes called Casagrande
piezometers)[2] installed into an aquifer. A Casagrande piezometer will typically have a solid casing down to the depth of
interest, and a slotted or screened casing within the zone where water pressure is being measured. The casing is sealed
into the drillhole with clay, bentonite or concrete to prevent surface water from contaminating the groundwater supply. In an
unconfined aquifer, the water level in the piezometer would not be exactly coincident with the water table specially when
vertical component of flow velocity is significant. In a confined aquifer under artesian conditions, the water level in the
piezometer indicates the pressure in the aquifer, but not necessarily the water table.[3] Piezometer wells can be much
smaller in diameter than production wells, and a 5 cm diameter standpipe is common.
Piezometers in durable casings can be buried or pushed into the ground to measure the groundwater pressure at the point
of installation. The pressure gauges (transducer) can be vibrating-wire, pneumatic, or strain-gauge in operation, converting
pressure into an electrical signal. These piezometers are cabled to the surface where they can be read by data loggers or
portable readout units, allowing faster or more frequent reading than is possible with open standpipe piezometers.