Laboratory Balances

Laboratory balances from a general standpoint measure the mass of an object, in the laboratory they are used to measure solids, liquids, tissue, they have a wide range of uses in virtually any laboratory including clinical, research and environmental settings. Some examples of laboratory balances include the triple beam balance, analytical balance (a.k.a. precision balance or chemical balance), micro and semi-micro balances. These balances can measure a variety of substances from a single grain of a chemical solid using a micro balance to the weight of a large beaker on a triple beam balance. More specifically, an analytical balance can measure in the submilligram range up to 3,200g. It can auto calibrate or it can be manually calibrated. Analytical balances are completely enclosed to ensure the most accurate measurements. For high precision weighing, the micro and semi-micro balances are used. These balances are very sensitive, with the weighing capacity ranging from 0.1 micrograms to 52g and 50g to 210g. Triple beam balances on the other hand are manually operated but can measure up to 2,610g.