DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A SIMPLE METAL-BASED SPHEROMETER FOR MEASURING SURFACE CURVATURE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32699/t05psk32Keywords:
Spherometer, Design, Metal material, Measurement instruments, Surface curvatureAbstract
Developing physics measurement instruments from simple materials is necessary to provide economical, easily constructed alternatives to laboratory equipment. This study aims to design and evaluate a simple, metal-based spherometer for measuring surface curvature. The research employs a descriptive experimental approach, encompassing fabrication, component assembly, zero-point calibration, and testing on three objects: an eraser, a marker, and a coin. The instrument uses an aluminum pulley as the main body, steel bolts as supporting legs, a central screw as the measuring mechanism, and a main scale and rotating scale made from basic materials. We evaluated the instrument by comparing spherometer readings with ruler readings, using the absolute difference as the metric. The test results show a discrepancy of 0.10 cm for the eraser, 0.10 cm for the marker, and 0.72 cm for the coin. These differences indicate that the instrument's readings are not yet consistent with the reference tool. Key limitations include the manual division of the rotating scale, the lack of a measured thread pitch, and the absence of data from repeated measurements or an assessment of instrument uncertainty. This study has produced a prototype of a simple spherometer that could be further developed as a tool for physics experiments. Future refinements, such as improving the construction and scale system and testing on curved surfaces with known radii of curvature, are needed to evaluate the instrument's measurement capabilities quantitatively.
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