Vernier scale

A vernier scale is a visual aid to take an accurate measurement reading between two graduation markings on a linear scale by using mechanical interpolation; thereby increasing resolution and reducing measurement uncertainty by using Vernier acuity to reduce human estimation error. A vernier scale is a visual aid to take an accurate measurement reading between two graduation markings on a linear scale by using mechanical interpolation; thereby increasing resolution and reducing measurement uncertainty by using Vernier acuity to reduce human estimation error. The vernier is a subsidiary scale replacing a single measured-value pointer, and has for instance ten divisions equal in distance to nine divisions on the main scale. The interpolated reading is obtained by observing which of the vernier scale graduations is co-incident with a graduation on the main scale, which is easier to perceive than visual estimation between two points. Such an arrangement can go to higher resolution by using higher scale ratios, known as the vernier constant. A vernier may be used on circular or straight scales where a simple linear mechanism is adequate. Examples are calipers and micrometers to measure to fine tolerances, on sextants for navigation, on theodolites in surveying, and generally on scientific instruments.The Vernier principle of interpolation is also used for electronic displacement sensors such as absolute encoders to measure linear or rotational movement, as part of an electronic measuring system. Calipers without a scale originated in ancient China as early as the Xin dynasty (AD 9). The secondary scale, which contributed extra precision, was invented in 1631 by French mathematician Pierre Vernier (1580–1637). Its use was described in detail in English in Navigatio Britannica (1750) by mathematician and historian John Barrow. While calipers are the most typical use of Vernier scales today, they were originally developed for angle-measuring instruments such as astronomical quadrants. In some languages, the Vernier scale is called a nonius after Portuguese mathematician, cosmographer Pedro Nunes (Latin Petrus Nonius, 1502–1578). In English, this term was used in English until the end of the 18th century. Nonius now refers to an earlier instrument that Nunes developed. The name 'vernier' was popularised by the French astronomer Jérôme Lalande (1732–1807) through his Traité d'astronomie (2 vols) (1764).