WHAT IS AN ANALYTICAL BALANCE?

Analytical balance

An analytical balance is used to measure mass to a very high degree of precision and accuracy. The measuring pan(s) of a high precision (0.1 mg or better) analytical balance are inside a transparent enclosure with doors so that dust does not collect and so any air currents in the room do not affect the balance's operation. The use of a vented balance safety enclosure, which has uniquely designed acrylic airfoils, allows a smooth turbulence-free airflow that prevents balance fluctuation and the measure of mass down to 1 μg without fluctuations or loss of product. Also, the sample must be at room temperature to prevent natural convection from forming air currents inside the enclosure, affecting the measure of mass.

Analytical precision is achieved by maintaining a constant load on the balance beam, by subtracting mass on the same side of the beam to which the sample is added. The final balance is achieved by using a small spring force rather than subtracting fixed masses. This makes calling it an "analytical balance" a misnomer, because it should actually be called an "analytical scale", due to it measuring force, rather than gravitational mass.